Divide and Conquer
by Evansfire
Summary: Post-series. When everything seems to have finally calmed down, Rika, Keiichi, Mion, and the rest of the club can finally relax. But when old evils return to haunt them, can they survive? Especially when the horror is aimed at them? MionxKeiichi and some ShionxSatoshi. Based off the anime series. *my first fanfic* Characters may act OOC
1. Prologue

*** _WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED_ ***

* * *

 **Disclamer: I do not own the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni anime, manga, or any media related to it. All rights and characters belong to 07th Expansion**

* * *

 **So, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction. I've written several stories and books before, all of which were received with great enthusiasm and reviews, but none were ever published officially. I thought I'd try my hand at something different for once!**

 **So, I recently finished the answer arc, and had an idea after. I know that Hanyuu fixed Takano's past, and kept her parents from dying in that tragic accident. But, what if Hanyuu hadn't? What if Takano lost her nerve and didn't shoot at all, but ran away? Where would she go? What would she do? Would she come back for revenge? Or would she get smart and actually stay away?**

 **I figured that, since she's pretty much obsessed with the Hinamizawa syndrome, she would definitely try again. But she would harbor a grudge against the kids who stopped her. So, this is my take on the aftereffects. And it all happens to start a week before the Feast of Watanagashi, 1984...**

 **Please leave me some reviews, let me know if you guys like what you see, and in return, I will do my best to update as frequently as I can! See you at the end...**

* * *

Prologue: _A Solemn Blood-Oath_

The long serrated knife glinted evilly in the light of the moon. It spoke of evil, and yet did no evil. It hinted at tales of great terror, as a weapon capable of rending skin and spilling blood, and yet it spoke of peaceful times, when it was used as no more than a tool. But it was not meant to be used for peace. Not this time.

The same malicious glow reflected in the eyes of Takano Miyo as she sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sleeping village of Hinamizawa. It was so quiet, so peaceful, the only thing giving life to the streets being the flickering of street lamps and the buzzing cry of the cicadas. She imagined the thousands of people sleeping, content, unsuspecting of anything wrong in the wold. Definitely not suspecting the horror she was planning to unleash...

It was a while since she'd last been here, and that was when she was planning to unleash the Hinamizawa syndrome upon the village, in response to those men and women who merely laughed at her grandfather's studies on the parasite found here, and only here.

As he had discovered, the parasite remained dormant as long as the person in question remained in the area. But if they left, they would be driven to paranoia, and slowly descend into madness, ultimately killing themselves. But, if the Queen Carrier, the one person who kept the parasite in check by discretely giving off a certain pheremone, just so happened to _die_... She giggled in delight at the prospect. That was the best way to attain what she wished for. In the end, all she wanted was for people to admit that her grandfather was right. That these parasites existed, and needed to be taken seriously. She'd show them. She'd show them all...

Then she scowled, remembering how she had failed so miserably. It was those kids, that stupid _club_. How they did it, she had no idea. It confounded her to no end. Every move she made, they had been at least two steps ahead of her. It was unreal... It was like they _knew_ from the very start what would happen and when...

Takano growled in frustration. Was the Furude girl really more than she seemed? Was it true? Could she really be the incarnation of Oyashiro-sama? It seemed impossible to her logic driven mind, but looking back, she couldn't deny the possibility of some kind of supernatural force aiding those children. There could be no other explanation, other than it was damn luck.

Damn. Luck.

Takano gripped the handle of the blade and grinned maliciously.

Her companion, a dark haired, beefy man who preferred only to be known as Kirei, winced at the sight. He was a man who'd done many unspeakable things, and rather enjoyed his work as a mercenary. He had no conscience, which definitely made his work easier to accomplish. He felt no fear, but when he looked at Takano as she smiled, he could imagine what fear felt like. This was pure evil, bordering on the edge of insanity. That grudge she held ever since last summer hung in her mind, bordering on obsession. When they had met in the underground criminal circuit, he had agreed to help her. Why, he had no idea. Perhaps it was as simple as being bored and the fact that it could give him something to do. Maybe even simply because he could.

They sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Kirei pondered on what tools he would need for this job, and if any could be found locally. Takano thought on how to avoid failure this time, and achieve her long awaited goal.

She brought her hand up to scratch at her neck, leaving behind red marks where her nails dug into the skin. Kirei had noticed this habit, and was wondering if it was a nervous tick, or if it was something else. Whatever it was, he was sure it couldn't be healthy.

She turned to look at him. "Kirei," She said, her voice grainy from not talking so long. "I want to ask you something."

He nodded at her. He long ago made a point of not speaking unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Have you heard of a blood oath?" she asked, a wicked gleam in her eye.

He tilted his head to the side. What the hell was she talking about?

"I suppose I'll take that as a hint that you don't have a clue..." She mused. "I'll have to change that.

"A blood oath is simply that. An oath made with blood. Two people shed their blood and shake their hands in a promise to hold true to whatever task is given to them. Sometimes it's to make sure a certain person is safe, other times it's a promise to stay together for as long as possible." She winked. "But we don't intend to do either of those things, do we?" she giggled.

She then offered him the blade, her face suddenly serious. "I'd like to swear a blood oath with you, Kirei. We cannot fail, not like I did last time. I want to finish this. One way... or another. Too much is riding on this for me."

"But," Kirei said, in his gravelly voice. "Did you not say your failure was a fluke? An accident?"

" _It was a fluke!_ " Takano screamed, her face suddenly becoming savage. Several birds flew out from nearby trees at the sudden disturbance. " _It was an absolute, fucking fluke and it cannot, WILL NOT, happen again!_ " The blade she held in her hand was suddenly pointed directly at his chest, and wavered ever so slightly, as if she was strongly willing herself not to kill him just yet.

Kirei was taken aback, but the fierce expression on her face disappeared as quickly as it had come. Takano smiled. "So, dear Kirei, what do you say? Shall we swear that we will fulfill our pledge, kill the queen carrier, and finally bring about an awareness of these parasites?" She offered him the blade, sounding strangely formal.

Kirei stared at it for the longest moment, thinking his employer was surely insane. _But, hey, at least she pays well._

He took the blade, and braced it against the flesh of his palm. He could feel the teeth digging into his skin, braced himself, and slid the blade across. He had readied himself for it, but it still hurt as the knife sliced his hand open, splitting skin and sending waves of agony through his body and mind. Blood began to instantly well up in his palm, but the cut wasn't too deep, so it was manageable.

Takano grinned, taking slight pleasure in seeing her companion in pain. When he returned the blade, she took no time slicing her own hand. She didn't even so much as wince. As they shook hands in their agreement, their blood mixed together, further cementing the promise.

"So, how do we do this?" Kirei asked her. "You have a plan?"

She grinned up at him as she bandaged their wounds. "Simple. Divide and Conquer. That little group that interrupted me last year? It seems as if they have two columns of support. A boy and a girl. Everyone else seems to rely on them heavily, and they follow their lead without question. So, if we eliminate those two columns...?"

"The roof will come crashing down," He finished. "and they won't be able to come together to stop us as we take what we want."

She grinned. "You're a lot smarter than you seem, Kirei. You shouldn't be so quiet all the time."

He grunted.

She looked back out at the village, the quiet, unsuspecting village. All in due time. The Feast of Watanagashi was almost upon them... And by then, everything would change.

 _Everything._

* * *

 ** _oooh,_ spooky huh? This is certainly gonna be interesting. I just finished the full outline for the story and, oh boy, are you guys in for a wild ride...**

 **Let me know what you wonderful people think! Send me questions via PM, or any suggestions you may have, and PLEASE corrections if you see the need for them. I am not above admitting I am wrong for any reason! If I make a mistake, I WANNA FIX IT. If I can make this as close to feeling like the real series, I would be so happy.**

 **Thanks again! And I will see you in the Chapter 1: _Bonds..._**


	2. Bonds

**Wow, so the same day I publish the prologue, I finish the first chapter. That's kinda awesome. I figured I'd go ahead and publish it, and let you guys into the story some more. Sorry, its gonna start off slow, but if you guys follow, fav, and stick with the story, I promise when it all hits the fan, you'll wanna be there to see it.**

 **And yeah. I'm also sick as a dog as I write this. So I honestly had nothing better to do with my time.**

 **I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter as always. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** : **Bonds**

" _Ohohohohoho... this is gonna be great.._ " thought the blond-haired girl as she sat alone at her desk. She made sure to come to school early because she did NOT want to miss out on the spectacle she had planned out for this morning. She, Hojo Satoko, was an absolute genius.

Yesterday, after school and the club meetings, she had told everyone to go ahead and go home, as she had some stuff to do before she left school. Which was true in a sense, but not in the way she led them to believe. Which was definitely good. She didn't want to spoil anything. She had something special planned for Maebara Keiichi in the morning... Her best work yet. An elaborate maze of traps so devious that it was sure to get Keiichi. There was no way he could get out of this. Because for every inch past the door, there were at least one trap ready to be triggered.

As she snickered to herself, she failed to hear the opening of the door behind her. Someone tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump out of her skin.

"EEEEK!" She spun around quickly, only to see her friends Furude Rika and Furude Hanyuu standing behind her. Rika smiled and gave a cute "niipa!" while Hanyuu merely gave Satoko a cute pout.

"So this is where you ran off to so early..." She whined. "I knew you were gonna do something to Keiichi... why are you so mean to him all the time?"

Satoko waved a hand dismissively. "He's a man! Keiichi-san can handle this kind of thing no problem!" She laughed again.

"But that's no excuse, _nano desu_!" Hanyuu cried. "You brute! He needs a break!"

Rika watched her two friends as they bickered back and forth, and smiled. As she closed her eyes, she thought about how nice it was that she didn't have to worry about fate, and how she was gonna try and break free anymore. She was finally free of that endless cycle, and could now focus on what she'd been dreaming about for ages.

Being the ten year old she really was, and having fun with her friends.

She looked at Satoko, and wondered why, out of all the people in the club, she decided to pick on Keiichi the most. The two of them seemed particularly close, even though neither would admit so. She even called Keiichi her Nii-nii, albeit she rarely called him that. And even if he didn't remember, Keiichi became very protective of Satoko in previous worlds, when her uncle returned and began hurting her again. Both worlds ended very differently though. In one world, Keiichi ended up killing Satoko's uncle, and Satoko rejected him. In another, though, Keiichi gained the support of the entire village to appeal to the Child protective services, and encouraged Satoko to give up her stubborn lies and admit that she needed help and that Hojo Teppei was abusive and violent.

She chuckled. Not to mention, Satoko wasn't the only one Keiichi was extremely protective of...

But, everything aside, if there was one person anyone could rely on, it would have to be Keiichi. He had a way of getting things done, and his talent with words could have people rising up and coming together in a matter of minutes. He wasn't called the "Magician of Words" for nothing.

Satoko tensed up. "Quick!" She whispered urgently, "he's coming!"

Sensing their friend's intentions, the girls quickly ran to sit at their respective desks. They waited for the arrival of the unsuspecting boy, and the chaos that would quickly ensue. Hanyuu sat at her desk, silently whining, "au, au, auauau..." as she usually did, while Satoko and Rika sat quietly, barely able to hold in their devious grins.

"Hey," Satoko whispered. "Did you read my note?"

Rika grinned and nodded ever so slightly.

"Great. So did you bring them?"

She nodded once more, patting the bag at her side.

Satoko could barely keep in her laughter. Nii-nii couldn't hope to win this time.

"What is she talking about, Rika?" Hanyuu asked Rika.

Rika merely opened her bag and showed Hanyuu the contents, which promptly made Hanyuu whine again. "You brutes! You evil people! Why are there two of them?"

Rika smiled, and Hanyuu flushed red as she understood what was going through her mind."Au, au, auauau... I won't do it! No! Its too mean!"

"If you help me," Rika said softly. "I'll treat you to the Jumbo Platter at the Angel Mort."

Fire ignited in the deity's eyes. "Keiichi won't even know what hit him!"

Rika chuckled quietly. Things were gonna get interesting very quickly.

She could now hear footsteps and Satoko quickly silenced her friends.

The sliding door opened slowly, and they heard a voice say, " _Ohayo..."_

But nothing happened. Satoko turned around puzzled, and saw a very astonishing sight.

 _Keiichi was stepping over all the trip wires and avoiding every trap like it was nothing_.

She slapped herself, telling herself she was dreaming. But she wasn't. The dummy that always fell for her tricks was actually evading everything she had thrown at him, and he was grinning at Satoko the whole time.

"Keiichi-san..." she said, dumbfounded.

He pointed a finger at Satoko. "You failed this time, Satoko!"

"Whaaaa?" Satoko was taken aback at such an accusation, feigning innocence. "But what did I do?"

"Don't play games!" Keiichi has a triumphant grin upon his face as he pumps his fist in the air, enthusiastically. "Yesterday, when you told us you were staying behind, I knew you were plotting an evil scheme, and I decided to spy on you! I watched you plant those traps, and found out how to avoid them!" He pointed a finger at Satoko again. "Your evil deeds end here, Satoko!"

Satoko stared at Keiichi, then grinned. "Impressive, Keiichi-san. I have a better opinion of you now."

A spark lit up in her eyes. "However, you missed something, Keiichi-san."

Keiichi stared in shock, suddenly taken aback by the sudden turn of events. "What, what do you mean?" His eyes lit up in panic. "You mean... _there's more?!_ "

Satoko held up her hand. "I always have a back up!" She snapped her fingers, and the girls sprung into action.

From Rika's bag, the two Furude girls brought out two water pistols and proceeded to spray Keiichi in the face and body, forcing him backwards, and coincidentally, into the impressive array of traps.

The ensuing chaos was pure beauty to Satoko. Buckets of water fell down and drenched Keiichi, followed up by chalk and erasers flying from all directions to strike him. Wash bins fell and knocked him in the head and brooms fell over and tripped him. The last broom sent him flying into a wall, dazing him just as more people entered the room to witness the spectacle.

It was the Sonozaki twins. And the oldest's eyes were glued to the limp figure by the wall.

"Keii-chan!" Mion quickly ran to his side and knelt down, checking him to make sure he was still breathing. "Keii-chan, what happened?"

" _So many things..."_ Keiichi muttered in a daze. " _From everywhere... but out of nowhere..."_ He laughed dryly as his nose started to get runny.

"Oh, come on now, Keii-chan." Mion said as she grabbed something to dry him off with. "This old man knows you can handle this kind of thing easy. Man up and get over it!"

Keiichi was still in a daze. Mion simply shook her head in disbelief. "Man, for all the stuff you're capable of doing, you're a wimp sometimes, Keii-chan."

Shion noticed her sister blushing slightly as she dried off Keiichi, trying to wake him up as she did so. She looked at Satoko who seemed in a daze of her own. "Satoko, what happened here? What did you do this time?"

Satoko stared off into space with a dreamy look on her face. "That... was... beautiful..."

Rika quickly explained what happened, and Mion stared in disbelief. "With all that stuff hitting Keii-chan in the head, shouldn't we be worried about a concussion or something?"

Shion looked at her twin slyly. "What's wrong, sis? Is the Unstoppable Mion, Club Leader, all worked up over dear Keii-chan? I wonder how he'd react if I told him-" Shion was suddenly cut off by a flurry of waving arms.

"NO, no, you're _not_ gonna do that, Shion! If you do, I swear, I'll run your little ass out of Hinamizawa so fast, you won't know what happened! I'm serious-"

"Tell me what?" Everyone looked at the source of the voice, which happened to be a now awake Keiichi. He was still leaning against the wall, but at least his head seemed to be clear.

"Keiichi! You're awake! Oh thank goodness..." Hanyuu said happily. She felt bad for doing what she did, but... _the Angel Mort Jumbo Platter..._

"You got me good, Satoko." Keiichi said, wincing as he reached up to rub the back of his head. "You win this round, but I'll get you next time, you hear me? I'll make you pay..."

"Pay how, Keii-chan?" Shion suddenly got very menacing. She looked at Keiichi with such an evil look he backed down quickly with a quick "Nothing, I meant nothing," and laughed it off.

"But still, you didn't answer my question. Tell me what?" He asked as he turned to look at Mion.

Who happened to be very, very close to his face.

Apparently she noticed the closeness as well, as she backed up quickly and started waving her arms in an embarrassed panic, yelling "Nothing! Nothing! She was going to tell you nothing!"

Both of their faces were beet red, but for some reason they couldn't stop looking at each other. They seemed held there, as if their minds were still reeling from the fact that they had been so close earlier.

Then, they all heard a familiar sound that made them shiver to the bone.

" _Hauuuuuuuu..."_

Everyone went stiff.

"Oh, crap." Mion gasped, getting to her feet. "This old man is about to book it!"

" _Hauuuu... Mii-chan and Keiichi-kun are embarrassed... hauuuuuu...they're so..._ " The voice started to wind up in pitch and intensity.

"RUN FOR IT!" Keiichi said as he bolted from where he was before. The entire club scattered as a flash of orange hair burst through the doorway with a resounding "CUUUUUUUUTTEEEE!"

Rena had gone into full "take it home" mode.

A few minutes later, the teacher came in and calmed everyone down as the rest of the students came into the classroom, and the school day got started.

* * *

"Grrrr!" Mion ground her teeth as she reached the end of her patience. "This stuff doesn't even make sense half the time. How are we supposed to use this stuff in the real world?"

Her sister frowned next to her. "I don't know, but they seem pretty bent on beating it into kids heads. So I guess it can be somewhat important."

Mion put her hands behind her head and grinned. "Well, I'm gonna end up as the next head of the Sonozaki family, so I probably won't need this anyway."

"Yeah," Rena admitted. "But you will still need to get the work done, or Chie-sensei will be furious with you!"

Mion gulped. Yeah, that could be a problem.

"Hey, Keii-chan." She said to the boy in front of her. "Help us out with this."

Keiichi sighed. "Seriously, Mion. You gotta start figuring this stuff out on your own. Its easy if you actually but the work in." He grinned. "If you put in as much effort into your work as you do our club activities... hehehe."

Mion gasped. "Why, you little punk..." She grinned right back at him. "I might just make the punishment game today a little bit sweeter, just for you, Keii-chan." She looked over at Mion. "Did you happen to bring... _that_ outfit?"

Shion's eyes widened, then she smiled. "As it so happens, I did. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably." They both giggled while Keiichi tried to decipher what just happened in front of him. Panic quickly consumed him as he realized that Mion might pick a game he really sucked at just so she could make him partake in the punishment game.

He sighed. "Alright, let me take a look."

As Keiichi started to explain the problems to the girls, Mion couldn't help but gaze at him and notice the way his eyebrows scrunched together in the cutest way when he was focused. And when he focused, he could be scary smart. If there was nothing that pushed him to solve a problem, he didn't really put any effort into it. But if the problem involved him in someway, or if there was something to be gained from solving it, Keiichi was able to solve it in a matter of moments. And yet, he was so carefree. This unassuming boy didn't look like much, but he was capable of so much. He was so much fun, smart, charismatic, kind, caring, handsome...

"...ion? Mion! Hey, stop daydreaming over there!"

 _Whack_

"Owww, Rena, what was that for?"

She smiled. "Just waking you up. Keiichi-kun is trying his hardest to help out, but you keep spacing out!"

Shion noticed the faint blush growing on her sister's face and snickered.

Keiichi sighed. "Seriously, you need to focus, Mion. Anyways, why am I even teaching you this stuff? I mean, I barely even know it and you're a grade higher than I am!"

"Whatever. This old man will have it down before you know it. Just you watch!" Mion said, pumping her fist to show her determination.

She then focused on the worksheet in front of her. "So... if I place 'x' here... and put this number here... I get the answer?"

Keiichi smiled. "See? Now you're getting it!"

Mion huffed. "Well, of course I got it! I mean, I am the Club leader after all. Its my job to stay ahead of you guys! You gotta have someone to look up to, right?" She laughed.

"Yeah." Keiichi said dryly. "And that's why you always have me helping you out with your schoolwork."

Mion couldn't help but glare. She was about to say something, probably smart she could say while wringing his neck, but at that moment they heard the familiar sound of the principal ringing the bell, signaling the end of the school day.

She grinned evilly at Keiichi. "Oh, you're gonna get it, Keii-chan. I'll make you regret it."

Keiichi gulped. He was officially, royally screwed.

* * *

 **Oh dear, I think I put Keiichi in a bad spot there. Hope he makes it out okay...**

 **I had some difficulties making this chapter work, but I'm glad I got it done. It's not as good as I hoped it be, but whatever.**

 **Please favorite, follow the story, because it encourages me to know that wonderful people like yourselves are eager to read more and it helps motivate me to write more. I'm already planning on sticking with this story to the end, but the motivation will help me put out updates faster.**

 **Thanks again for reading, you guys! I'll see you guys in Chapter 2: _Let the Games begin..._**


	3. Let the Games Begin

**So, I just wanna say thank you guys for all the support you guys have given me. This story has received 100 reads since it was published just day before yesterday which is, IMHO, MIND-BLOWING. I mean, its only the first two chapters! Wow, *bows* you guys are amazing.**

 **So, like I said before, the story starts kinda slow, but by the time we reach around Chapter 6, things are gonna escalate pretty quickly. I'm gonna be pushing characters to their limits, and some of them (not gonna say who), are gonna be making choices that no one should ever have to make. And that's all I'm gonna say. Just giving you some crumbs so you just HAVE to keep reading. Because I'm evil like that.**

 **So, thanks for the favorites and follows, and please, PLEASE leave a review and let me know how you guys like the way the story is going. I know it doesn't seem like much, and it sounds like I'm begging, but seriously. Just taking a few moments to click that button and type a few good words really helps me out, and lets me know that what I'm doing is being appreciated.**

 **So, that's enough babbling on my end. Enjoy the chapter, and I will see you at the end...**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 : Let the Games Begin...**

" _Stand! Bow!"_

 _"Goodbye!"_

With that, the school day was officially over. As the other students gathered their things and retrieved their shoes, 7 students remained seated, as if waiting for something.

And then one of them stood up and raised a hand to the sky.

"Club members... Assemble!"

The others stood, as if it were a call to arms.

"What will we do today, I wonder? I wonder?"

Another laughed. "Ohohohohoho, don't you mean what will Keiichi-san have to wear as punishment today?"

A third yelled in exasperation, "Hey, don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself, Satoko? I thought you were supposed to by my friends!"

"Well, Keii-chan, we are friends! But where does it say friends can't have fun at their friends expense?" a fourth added in.

The others laughed as the third voice cried in despair.

* * *

"Today's club activity is going to be set up a bit differently. And it's gonna be based entirely on luck!" Mion declared to her club members, who looked eagerly to their leader as she described the events that would soon be taking place. "We shall be playing a game that is adequately named, after something that is known since time immemorial. We shall play War!" She said, brandishing a deck of cards.

The others looked at her curiously. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Shion raised a hand. "Um, Onee, can you explain? You're just standing there."

The eldest twin blushed and sputtered. "Well, of course I'm gonna explain. Just... standing here for dramatic effect!"

She brushed her hair out of her eyes and began to explain. "War is a card game, with the goal being that you need to get all ofyour opponent's cards and knock them out of the running. Everyone gets an even amount of cards to start with, and you are NOT allowed to look at your cards at all while they are in your deck. When I yell 'Draw!' everyone takes the card on top of their deck and lays it right-side up for everyone to see. Whoever has the card with the highest value takes all the cards, and we keep going. If you run out of cards, you are. Does that make sense?"

Everyone nodded. They seemed eager, as this seemed to be an anyone's game. Easy enough, right?

Not necessarily true. Rika thought, looking in particular at Keiichi. Some people had all the luck in the world.

"So, whats the punishment gonna be this time, Mion?" Keiichi asked grudgingly. "Another embarrassing outfit that you guys are gonna make me walk around the village in?"

The twins grinned conspiratorially at each other. "Maaayyyybbbeeee." Shion said. "Maybe not... It might be worse than that... I guess you'll have to see, won't you, Keii-chan?"

Keiichi began to sweat. _Oh crap._ He thought. _What did I walk myself into this time?_ He should've kept his big mouth shut.

"Well, with that out of the way, today's punishment game will remain a mystery!" Mion declared. "Let's get this game started!"

She began to distribute the cards evenly. Because she had to distribute the 56 cards evenly, each of them ended up with only 8 cards to start with. After the cards had been given out, they all sat in a circle, each holding their deck in their hands.

"Is everyone ready?" Mion asked. She received six nods.

"Very well. Ready... Set... DRAW!"

Everyone flipped their cards at the same time, revealing a two, a six, a eight, a nine, a seven, a four, and a King.

"Shion takes the first round!" Mion declared as her sister swiftly rounded up all the cards.

Shion smiled. "Well, what do you expect? I'm the sister of our dear club leader, after all." The twins high fived each other, giggling together.

Keiichi shivered. It was too creepy when they did that. It was like watching someone in a mirror.

"Ready?" Keiichi shook his head and brought his mind back to the game at hand. Today was the day, he could just feel it. He would beat Mion at her own game, and then _she_ would be the one wearing the embarrassing outfits. He could just see her, blushing profusely as she wore that maid outfit on the way back home from school...

"Keiichi-kun? You didn't play your card..." Rena's voice brought him out of his own thoughts.

"Ah, sorry!" He apologized, quickly slapping his card down.

"Keii-chan? What were you just thinking about?" Shion asked, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"Nothing important, I assure you." He laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, you better have been dreaming about food, mister..." Mion said flatly, fury in her eyes. "Otherwise, I would have drawn other conclusions."

"Hehe, what makes you say that, Mion?" Keiichi asked nervously.

"You were drooling, Keii-chan."

"Keikei's mind was in the gutter again." Rika said, eyeballing the boy.

His eyes went wide with panic. "No, no! It's not like that! I swear!"

"It better not have been." Mion said angrily. She didn't like when Keiichi got like that. Lusting over other girls... She was the only one that had any place in his eyes...

She shook her head. What was she doing, thinking like that! Surely, a tomboy like herself didn't have any chance. There were so many other girls cuter than her...

Shion sensed where her twin's thoughts were going and quickly elbowed her in the ribs.

"Owww!" Mion yelped. "Stupid Shion! What was that for?" Her sister simply winked at her and said, "You know why." When Shion smiled knowingly at her, Mion quickly started blushing.

"Anyways!" She said, trying to get attention off of her and on the game. "Keii-chan takes this round! That Ace certainly cleans house, doesn't it?" She laughed.

Surprised, Keiichi looked down and saw that he had indeed won the round. "Aww yeah!" He exclaimed, swiftly gathering everyone's cards.

Mion looked at Keiichi out of the corner of her eyes. Looked like this game was gonna get interesting.

* * *

The game kept going, with Mion and Keiichi quickly gaining the lead, until suddenly...

"Looks like Keii-chan, Shion and Rika-chan have declared war!" Mion said, when they all drew identical cards.

"What, war?" Keiichi said nervously. "What do you mean?"

Mion laughed. "Oh, Keii-chan. It's nothing bad. Let this old man explain."

She pointed at their cards. "You guys all drew sevens. Now, thats a tie, and we can't have that happen! So, war is declared. Everyone, not just you three, has to draw five cards and lay them face down. Then, when I yell 'Draw,' we lay a single card face up, and whoever gets the highest value gets all the cards.

"So, everyone, draw five cards..."

Keiichi, Shion, and the others complied, laying all five cards face down on the floor in a pile.

"Ready, everyone?" Mion began. "Set.. DRAW!"

 _slap,slap,slap,slap,slap,slap,slap._

"Hauuuu~" Rena whined. "Rena lost." She hung her head.

Satoko groaned. "How did I lose?"

Rika said nothing as she and Hanyuu got up silently and walked over to the loser's corner.

"I got knocked out, too." Shion said softly. "I don't know what's gotten into Keii-chan, but he's cleaning house today."

Keiichi grinned, crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. "Finally, my losing streak ends! Today, you will see Maebara Keiichi's full potential unleashed." Keiichi flexed, for emphasis.

"All we're seeing is Maebara Keii-chan's dork side unleashed." Mion snickered. Her sister cracked up laughing as Keiichi sent a glare her way.

"Well, Keii-chan." Mion smiled. "Its just you and me now. You've done well up until this point, I must admit. But victory will not reach you this time! I, Sonozaki Mion, declare that this old man will win!"

Keiichi narrowed his eyes. "Well, then. Why don't we make this match a little sweeter?"

Mion crossed her arms over her chest and tried to appear disinterested, but failed. "Perhaps. Depends on what you propose."

"Sudden Death. Whoever loses this draw has to be the other's slave for a _week_ and wear an embarrassing outfit on the way home from school today."

Mion grinned and stuck out her hand. "I like your style, Keii-chan! We got ourselves a deal."

The two shook hands while the others watched from a distance.

"Why do I get the feeling that this won't end well for Keii-chan?" Shion wondered aloud.

"Because it never does. Never does." Rena said, looking sadly at the scene that played out before them.

Satoko shrugged. "I just don't get why Keiichi-san doesn't give up. He seems hell bent on beating Mion."

"Keiichi feels the need to prove himself." Rika said softly. "He wants to show her he can win too, _nano desu._ "

"Oh, I know why he wants to prove himself..." Satoko grinned evilly. "Hehehe, its because he wan-" She was cut off by a quick chop on the head by Shion.

"Sorry, Satoko," Shion said. "But I'm going to have to stop you there."

"Awww..."

Mion and Keiichi quickly set all the cards in their deck on the floor, setting their hand on top of the deck. The air was thick with tension, with both contenders staring deep into each others eyes, ready to defeat their opponent.

"Ready?" Mion said.

Keiichi grabbed the corner of his card. "Set!"

"DRAW!"

They both flipped their cards, and groaned.

Mion had won, but only by the skin of her teeth. She had drawn a three, while Keiichi had drawn a two.

Keiichi's shoulders sagged. "Noooo, I lost." He hung his head. "Man, why does this always happen to me?!" He cried, grabbing at his hair in defeat.

"Very well done, Keii-chan." Mion said haughtily. "You played well, and with valor. But in the end, your losing streak continued, and now you must pay the price." She grinned at her sister and gave her a thumbs up as she walked over to her locker.

As Shion gave her sister a similar gesture, Keiichi began to panic. What horrors awaited him in that locker of hers?

"Keii-chan, this old man wants you to know something." Mion said, looking at Keiichi with the evilest smile imaginable. "Sis and I bought this with you in mind, so now, as my slave, your first order of business is to wear... _this!"_ She declared as she pulled a revealing French maid outfit from the closet.

Keiichi shook, as if he'd been struck by lightning. "Wha- wait- you can't-"

"Oh, yes I can, Keii-chan." Mion said maliciously. "After all, you're _mine_ for the next week." She winked, which caused his face to heat up somewhat. He thought he saw her face flush pink as well, but quickly shrugged it off. "Besides, this outfit is _perfect_ , considering what you're going to be doing for the next week..."

Keiichi grumbled, grabbed the maid outfit from his new mistress, and sulked out of the room.

As he left, Shion nudged her sister. "Hey, I'll bet you're happy now."

"What do you mean, Shion?" Mion asked, confused.

"Well, we finally get to put Keii-chan in the maid outfit, which is quite revealing, I'd imagine..." Shion winked at her sister, who started blushing.

"What are you trying to say, sis?" Mion asked, feigning ignorance, hoping her sis would drop the subject.

"Well, like I said, it's quite revealing," She continued. "So you get to see his toned chest, and those biceps, and he'll be in a skirt so you can see Keii-chan's muscular thighs. Oh, not to mention you can see his-" She would've continued on in more explicit detail but Mion grew seventeen deeper shades of red and started screaming at her, telling her with a few choice words to knock it off.

* * *

"Why me..." Keiichi moaned as they walked home. The other villagers noticed his new outfit and chuckled to themselves as they passed. Keiichi's punishment game outfits were something of a popular topic around Hinamizawa.

"Thanks to you guys, the whole village thinks I must be some kind of weirdo." he said to the others.

"That's because you are some kind of weirdo, Keiichi-san! The biggest kind!" Satoko said laughing, as he began to chase her.

"Oh, slave? I think that's enough." Mion said. "You need to walk right next to me the whole way, and you can't move an inch from there unless I say. Got it?"

"But.. Mion-" He started to protest but Mion cut him off abruptly.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Mion said, wiggling her finger in the air for emphasis. "For the rest of the week, it's _master_. Got it?"

Keiichi started to protest again, but he grumbled a simple, "yes, master." as he moved to her side.

Shion looked at Mion and giggled. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Mion winked at her sister. "Is there anything wrong with that? Keii-chan will have to cater to my every whim and desire all week! I can't think of anything better."

"Okay, just don't go _too_ far, alright, Onee?" Shion teased, making the two teenagers flush a deep red.

"Sh-Shion!" Keiichi sputtered.

"Stupid Shion!" Mion blurted, punching her sister in the shoulder. "Don't be saying that stuff!"

"Just saying." Shion simply shrugged, laughing at the two teenagers embarrasment.

Rena's face flushed red. " _Hauuu~_ Keiichi-kun's maid outfit is _soo cuttee!_ I wanna take him home with me! _"_ She ran after Keiichi, who began to panic, but Mion stopped her.

 _"Rena, no!_ He's mine this week! You can have him the next time... maybe..." Mion said that last bit softly.

Shion grinned. "Forget that, he's all mine next time. I got a spot on my back that aches something awful... he can be my own personal masseuse..." Keiichi flushed red, while Mion punched her sister in the shoulder again.

"Well, this is where we leave." Rika said as they reached the path to their house. She, Hanyuu and Satoko bowed.

"See you at school!" Hanyuu called as they parted ways.

"I have to leave too!" Rena said, waving at them. "I have to go cook dinner for my dad. Goodbye! Goodbye!"

Shion made an excuse as well, saying how she had to hurry and get ready for work, and ran off, leaving Mion and Keiichi alone.

Keiichi sighed and started to walk away. "Well, guess I should go, too. See you tomorrow, Mio-"

He was cut off by Mion grabbing him by the back of his maid outfit. Her face was lowered, so he couldn't read her expression.

"What is it, Mion?" He said, concerned.

She said nothing for a while, then she looked at him. "I didn't tell you you could leave, now did I?" She smiled evilly.

"Aw, come on, Mio-" Keiichi started to complain, but Mion cleared her throat expectantly.

"I-I mean, come on, _master_." He corrected himself. "My parents are gonna be waiting for me at home! Dinner is probably waiting for me, not to mention my homework..."

"Well, then," She said, nonchalantly. "I can solve both your homework and dinner issues right there. And you can call your parents on the phone at my house and let them know what's going on." She continued to walk.

Keiichi gaped at her. Was she being serious?

She looked back at him. "Well, Keii-chan? Don't just stand there! Come on, lets get going. I'll even let you change out of that getup when we get there." She turned around and kept walking.

Keiichi watched the green-haired girl as she walked away. Without a doubt, Sonozaki Mion was the strangest girl he had ever met.

But, he kinda liked that. He ran to catch up to her.

* * *

"Mom? Dad! I'm home!" Mion said as they walked in the front door to the Sonozaki mansion.

Keiichi looked around in awe. He was finally back in his own clothes, as Mion had let him quickly change in the shed outside. A little unorthodox, but it provided some privacy and it worked.

"Welcome home, sweetheart!" a female voice echoed from a distant part of the house, and Mion grabbed Keiichi's wrist and led him toward the source of the voice.  
The source happened to be Mion's mother, who seemed to be preparing dinner in the kitchen, while a muscular man, who Keiichi believed to be her father, sat at the table sipping on tea and reading from a thick book.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." Mion said walking into the kitchen.

Her father smiled. "Well, don't just stand there. This old man needs a hug." He stood up, revealing he was much taller than Keiichi first imagined.

Mion smiled, and ran up to her father to embrace him. He smiled and hugged her back. "How was school today?"

"It was good. This old man had some trouble in math as usual, but Keii-chan helped me out."

"Well, isn't that nice?" Mion's mother smiled as she washed her hands and walked over. "I'm glad you found such a nice boy."

"And when am I gonna get to meet the guy, anyways?" Her father pouted. "You never bring any guys over..."

"Probably because you chase all the boys away before she even can." Her mother said playfully.

"Hahaha, probably." he laughed, embarrassed.

"Ummm, I actually did bring him home." Mion finally interjected, pointing at the blushing boy who was seemingly forgotten by the family in front of him.

"Umm, hi." Keiichi mumbled.

Her mother and father stared at him for a second before leaning in close to their daughter and saying a few choice things.

"Well, you could've started off by letting us know that first, you know?" Her father whispered.

"And you didn't tell us he was such a looker, either!" Her mother whispered, much to Mion's embarrassment.

"Mom!"

"So, guess I gotta have a quick talk with him before we save the date?" Her father continued.

"Probably." Her mother agreed. "But you should be easy on him. Don't frighten him too much."

"Would you two stop it!" Mion stammered, quickly getting flustered.

They laughed, and walked with her over to meet Keiichi.

"Sorry for not noticing you," her father said as he held out his hand. "My name is Sonozaki Takao. Pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, sir." He reached out and gripped the man's hand. "My name is Maebara Keiichi."

"Ah!" Takao got a weird expression on his face, then grinned widely as he let go. "Well, well. They say you can tell a lot about a man by his handshake. And you've got one hell of a grip." He looked at his daughter, pointed and said, "I like this one."

Mion's eyebrows shot up as she looked over at Keiichi. "Dad's a yakuza boss, by the way, so you know he's not just saying stuff."

Keiichi was suddenly nervous. He could already imagine the bad things that could happen. He'd sneeze in the wrong fashion, and next thing you know, he'd be set up for an execution in no time!

Takao chuckled. "Come on now, Mion. You know I don't like mentioning that! It gives people a bad first impression." He winked at Keiichi. "Just don't make my daughter cry and you'll be fine."  
Keiichi smiled nervously.

Her mother bowed. "My name is Sonozaki Akane. Welcome to our home, Keiichi-kun." Keiichi bowed in a similar fashion.

"The pleasure is mine." Keiichi smiled.

Before the parents could get to interrogating the poor boy, Mion quickly explained that they had homework to do and asked to be excused.

"Keii-chan will also be staying for dinner." She added. "Is that okay?"

Takao grinned. "I don't mind, as long as your mother says it's fine. She's the one I don't want to make mad." He gave Keiichi a knowing look. "Happy wife, happy life, right? Don't think of it any other way."

Keiichi swallowed. The yakuza boss was scared of his wife? What kind of family was he walking into?

"Well, I certainly don't mind at all." She said. "As long as he's not staying the night..." She added teasingly, which made Mion blush hard. She dragged Keiichi out of the kitchen towards her room, leaving the laughter of her parents behind.

* * *

As they watched the two teenagers leave, Mion's parents sat down and visited.

"So that's Maebara Keiichi, eh?" Takao mused. "Not a bad guy. I like him."

His wife nodded as she poured herself a cup of tea. "He's all Mion talks about when she talks about school. 'Keii-chan this, and, 'Keii-chan did that.' She's got it for him pretty bad."

"Reminds you of us when we were their age, doesn't it?" He chuckled as she sat next to him.

"I do happen to recall a certain hot headed boy who had a bad habit of charging into everything recklessly." She said, sipping her tea. "And I also remember having to pull you out of trouble several times because of it."

He chuckled. "True enough. Well, this guy seems to be a bit different from me, but he's kinda the same." He thought aloud. "I don't know if that makes sense or not, but it does to me, at least. And there was more..." He stared off into open space, lost in his thoughts again.

Akane tilted her head at him. "What did you mean earlier, when you said you can tell about a man's character from a handshake?"

"Well," her husband began. "It means simply that. A handshake is in and of itself an initial conversation between men. It's like, I dunno. I think when guys shake hands, they can tell about each other's foundations, their determination, strength of character, those sort of things. In some cases, if you look a man in the eye as you do that, you can learn a lot more."

"And... what did you learn from him, I wonder?" She asked him.

Takao was silent for a second. Then he began.

"That boy... he's seen things. Terrible things. I know from experience, because I've shaken hands with murderers and assassins and survivors, but he had something more that they didn't have. It felt like he had seen things that made all those people's experiences seem like sunshine and rainbows. You could see it in his eyes, too. A hint of sadness, as if he would never be able to forget what he'd seen. Like he'd seen his friends die, over and over. Like he himself had died, and it scarred him." He shook his head, trying to make sense of what he'd said.

"Was there more?" His wife asked, pressing for information.

"There was a lot more." He nodded. "There was a great kindness. There was passion. There was intelligence, a genius mind. There was fire in his heart. There was regret, there were so many things all wrapped together, and they seemed bound by a strong sense of determination and loyalty. There was just pure... _strength_ in that boy's handshake. If he makes a promise, I'll bet you anything he'll make damn sure he keeps that promise. Even if he has to walk through Hell to do it."

He sighed. "It's not like he probably hasn't done it before."

He looked over at his wife and smiled.

"So?" she nudged him. "You got something else you wanna say, or are you gonna stare at my overwhelming beauty for a while longer?" She teased.

"Oh, I'd like to do nothing better." He smiled, then leaned forward and kissed her.

Pulling back, he was serious. "But, all jokes aside, if I was to ever let Mion marry someone, it'd be that guy. Because I know for a fact that he'd _never_ let anyone down, especially not her."

He sipped his tea, and added one last thing.

"He'd rather die first."

* * *

 **Good grief this chapter took FOREVER. Like it took me 4 hours to write.**

 **So I didn't mean for the chapter to go on for so long. I meant to end the chapter when Mion started dragging him to her house, but the story took a life of its own and I ended up having Keiichi meet Mion's parents. And I had fun writing Takao's character. He's a cool guy. If you guys hadn't noticed, he's pretty wise. That part about summing up Keiichi's character from a single handshake kinda gives it away.**

 **Thanks for all the support, you guys! As I asked before, please leave a quick review, or even follow and favorite the story! Don't forget to follow and favorite my profile so you know when I'll update or publish new stories! Because trust me... I won't be done after this story... not by a long shot.**

 **So, thanks for reading, all you wonderful people! I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	4. Emotions

**So, time for another chapter! I'm having lot of fun writing this, so I feel like even if no one reads this, It'll be worth it in the end.**

 **Also, I'm aware of some mistakes I've made, and I will fix them accordingly, Thanks to the people who sent me PM's regarding those.**

 **BTW, I might have lied in my last update. I decided to let the story pick up in this chapter and the next. So, keep an eye out for it... ;)**

 **A/N: Mion and Shion will be referred to their grandmother as "Bachan," just so I can clear up any confusion ahead of time. I know some people think it's Batcha, but it's actually Bachan.**

 **As always leave a review if you can, favorite or follow. And I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 3** **: Emotions**

As Mion slammed the sliding door shut behind them, she sighed in exasperation. Seriously,why did her parents of all times have to be silly _now?_ And on the day she brought Keiichi home, too! This was _not_ how she had wanted it to go. She thought it would've been nice and quiet, a quick exchange of pleasantries, and then she and Keiichi would go to their room, do their homework, and Mion could get Keiichi started on all the housework she had planned out for him.

But _nooooo_ , they just had to get all up in her business and embarrass the living crap out of her! Seriously, she had already made the mistake of admitting she liked Keiichi to them, but couldn't they just leave the subject be?

She could tell Keiichi was looking at her, but she didn't know what to say. She had no idea why Keiichi was such a big deal to her parents.

 _I mean, yeah,_ she thought. _It is really impressive that Keii-chan stood his ground in an argument with Bachan and won, but still. It's not like we'll be dating anytime soon... or at all..._ She thought sadly as she looked over at the boy with the violet eyes she'd come to know and love so well. She swore that sometimes she would merely glance in their direction and they would suck her right in... How she wished they could look at her with unadulterated affection, a look only for her... with that wonderful smile of his that made her heart race, and that laugh that sent butterflies through her stomach...

She cleared her head. She shouldn't be having those kind of thoughts. Might as well be wishing to breathe on the moon, or to even be able to fly.

"What was all that about? With your parents, I mean" Keiichi said, suddenly looking away. Was it her wishful thinking or was he... actually _blushing?_

"I'm sorry, Keii-chan. They're not usually like that. They're usually more dignified. Besides," She said sadly. "They're only visiting me and my sister for a bit. They talked Bachan into letting them stay in the guest room for a few days." She smiled mirthlessly. "She probably would've knocked some dignity into them, if she hadn't been at a meeting.

"Oh, I forgot..." Keiichi looked down at his feet, feeling sorry for Mion. She must feel so alone, being raised by her grandmother, not being able to be with her parents all the time... "So why aren't you at the meeting with her?"

"Well," She said softly. "I wasn't needed."

"Ah." Keiichi shuffled his feet nervously. An awkward silence enveloped the room.

"Anyways!" Mion slapped Keiichi on the back, the mood forgotten. "We should probably get our homework done! Otherwise, Chie-sensei will have our necks."

Keiichi winced, but smiled. "You know, that might be the best idea I've heard all afternoon."

As they laid out their work out on the floor, they began to delve into the world of mathematics and history. They began to discuss their schoolwork as only the best of friends could, discussing the finer points of certain subjects, and the reasoning.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again." Mion said, laying on her side. "If I'm gonna be the head of the Sonozaki family, why am I studying this junk? We probably won't use half of what we learned, not to mention I won't even need to do any math. I'll just be ordering you and everyone in the village around, and I can just make you can do them for me!" She laughed.

"Yeah, but what if you need to distribute provisions and supplies evenly, and you can't hand them out normally, because its an uneven...well, supply? And no one else is around to help you?" Keiichi stammered as he propped himself up on one arm, trying to make a coherent argument.

Mion raised a finger as if to say something, then stopped, frowned, and let her hand fall to the floor. "That's a good point." She said grudgingly.

He looked over at her papers, and shook his head. "Besides that, what are you even doing there?" He pointed at one problem in particular. "How the heck did you even get that answer?"

The tomboy looked in confusion at the problem.

The problem was _12 x 3 + 6 – 4 / 2 = ?_

Mion had answered _19_.

She frowned. "It seemed pretty straight forward. Just added and subtracted, and all that stuff."

Keiichi hung his head. "Don't you listen to any of the stuff I show you? That's not the way to solve this particular problem."

"Keii-chan, what are you talking about?" She punched him in the arm. "And don't go insulting me like that. It'll only make it sweeter when I have you doing all my chores tomorrow."

He paled. "Seriously, Mion? You're gonna go that far?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. Depends on if I'm in a good mood or not."

He sighed. "Look here." He pointed at the math symbols. "Just because they appear in a certain order, doesn't mean you solve them in that order."

Mion sighed. "Can you just stop with the stupid riddles? I'm growing old here, I could wither to nothing any second!"

He laughed and rubbed her head. "Would you stop talking like that?" He smiled affectionately at her. "You look just fine."

Mion felt her face heat up at the touch. She felt his fingers brushing through her emerald strands of hair, and shivered. He was so gentle as he did it... "You think so?" Mion said softly, immediately hating how she sounded as she said it.

He didn't pay any attention, and if he did, he didn't show it. "Of course! Now look."

He pulled a sheet of paper from his notebook and started writing a series of letters.

 _P. E. M. D. A. S._

"I remember seeing those." She said, trying to get over the embarrassing moment. "But, I never really understood what they were for."

"Well," He began to explain. "It's a tool to help you solve problems like these. It's an acronym." He began to write words next to each of the letters as he spoke. "It's to help you remember the order you should always solve a problem in, in order to get the best stands for _parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition,_ and _subtraction_." He pointed to each one as he said it. "You see what I'm saying?"

She nodded slowly. "Kinda, but it's all still gibberish to me."

He shook his head. "You know, I kinda feel sorry for whoever your future husband is..."

"What was that, you little punk?" Mion rolled up her sleeve, as if she were gonna hit him. But in reality, she was struggling to keep from blushing as a series of images and fantasies flashed through her mind... _Her and Keiichi at a western style wedding... held in front of the Furude Shrine..._

"Look." He wrote the problem out again. "You see the problem?" She nodded. "Okay, so what is in the problem that comes first in the acronym?"

She looked at the question, narrowed her eyes, and said, "It's multiplication, right?"

Keiichi smiled. "There you go. So, treat that as it's own math problem. What is 12 times 3?"

"36." She answered.

Keiichi nodded. "You kinda get what I'm saying now?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I think I do. Why are you such a good teacher?" He laughed.

* * *

They continued working, unaware that a few hundred yards beyond her window, a pair of eyes were watching them. The eyes widened in realization as an idea came into their mind. They then began to gleam with malice.

 _We need to keep a closer eye on those two. But if this is what I think it is, then we'll pull this off no problem._ A portable camera was removed from an unseen pocket as the figure proceeded to snap a few pictures. It pocketed the camera before fading into the silky black of the night.

* * *

A knock on the sliding door brought the two friends out of their study mode. Mion stood up and walked over to answer the door.

It was her sister, Shion.

"Hi, Onee!" she began, "I was just wondering-" she looked inside and was very surprised to see Keiichi sitting in her sister's room.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Hey there, Keii-chan. I didn't expect to see you here..."

"Well, I didn't really have a choice, to be honest." He said honestly. "But I got to meet your parents and I'm just helping Mion as we knock out our homework together."

"I see..." Shion smiled mischievously as she gave her sister a side glance. "So, y'all are on a study date? Is that it? Or are we having a little more fun than that?" She nudged her sister in the shoulder. "Way to go, sis..."

"Shion!" Mion got very flustered. "It's... it's not like that!"

"Whatever." Her sister said dismissively. "Anyways, Keii-chan. I need to borrow my sister for a bit. Is that alright with you?"

He nodded, then smiled at Mion. "Just don't take too long!"

Mion barely had enough time to respond as she was dragged out into the hallway by her sister and into the kitchen.

* * *

When her sister finally sat her down at the table, Shion's face was serious. "Okay, I only have one thing to say to you. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Mion gulped and looked away, "Nothing! I'm not doing anything!"

Shion sighed. "Onee, you got to stop playing games. If you don't seize this opportunity while you have it, you're gonna lose the biggest shot of getting with Keiichi that you will ever have. I swear, and if you keep acting as conservative as you are now, someone else is gonna get to him before you!"

"Huh?" Mion seemed to relax a bit, albeit she was blushing furiously. "Wait, that's what this is about?"

"Well, of course that's what I was talking about, what else would I..." the twin narrowed her eyes. "Onee... what did you do?"

Mion laughed, but looked away nervously. "Well... I might've... borrowed some of your clothes... for tomorrow..."

"Why would you borrow my clothes?" Shion sat there, confused. "You always said that my outfits were too girly for you... unless..."

Her eyes lit up. "Mion, are you thinking of doing what I think you're doing tomorrow?"

"Ahaha, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Mion said. "But I probably should go, Keii-chan is waiting on me..."

Mion started to get up, but she was held back when Shion grabbed her wrist.

"You're taking Keiichi on a date, aren't you?" Shion's grin was huge.

Mion blushed. "Maybe." She said. "I don't even know if you could call it a date."

Shion hugged her sister. "Oh, Onee! I knew you had it in you! You just gotta show the guy what you feel, and he'll fall for it! Hook, line, and sinker!"

Mion grinned. "Yeah, I guess so, huh?"

"And don't worry." Shion said. "I'm, like, 70 or 85% sure Keiichi probably likes you back."

Mion's world narrowed on what her little sister had said and she sat back down. "Say what?"

"Oh, like I haven't noticed all the time you guys spend together." Shion giggled. "I mean, come on, be serious. What guy would constantly spend time with a girl if he didn't have some interest? And it's not like you two avoid each other. If you don't go to him and ask to spend time together, he usually comes and asks you. Tell me you don't think there's more there than just friendship?"

Mion played with her hair. "Maybe, but I dunno, Shion. When we're together, it's like he only sees me as a boy trapped in a girl's body. I don't think he sees a girly side to me... "

"That's not true, and you know it!" Shion's eyes flared. "Remember the doll Keiichi gave you? Would he have given you that if he felt you weren't girly enough for it?"

Mion shrugged.

"And not only that. Do you remember what he told you when he gave it to you?"

Mion's eyes widened and she nodded. "He said he thought I was plenty girly..."

"Your problem is you keep selling yourself short, Onee." Shion said bluntly.

"Yeah, but..." Mion shifted her eyes. "There are so many other girls that are way cuter than I am..."

Shion facepalmed. "Oh my God. You just might be denser than he is."

She looked at her sister. "Do you think I'm beautiful?"

Mion blinked at the sudden question. "Huh?"

"Just answer the question."

"Yeah, of course you are, sis! You're one of the most gorgeous girls in Hinamizawa!"

Her sister spread her arms wide. "There's your answer. If I got a good chance, then so do you."

"But, I don't get it..."

"Stupid Onee! We're _identical twins._ We look exactly the same!"

"Oh." Mion stared off into space for a second, then grinned at her. "Guess you got a point there. I could give it a shot."

"That's the spirit, sis!" The two embraced once again, holding each other tightly as they felt a rush of sisterly love wash over them.

"I just gotta say one thing, though, sis." Shion was serious again when they released each other. "Don't make the same mistake that I did. Don't wait too long to tell him." Her face darkened, and a deep sadness welled up in her eyes. "I never got to tell _him_ , you know..."

Tears began to stream softly down the younger twin's face, and Mion couldn't help but hold her as she began to cry silently, her whole body wracked with sobs. Her heart was aching.

"It's good to cry."

The twins looked up in shock to see their grandmother standing before them.

"B... Bachan..." Mion stammered in surprise. She stood up and quickly bowed in respect.

"I'm sorry, Bachan." Shion followed suit. "I shouldn't be crying."

"Nonsense." She slowly walked into the kitchen and poured herself the last remaining bit of tea. "Tears make us human. They remind us of what is precious." She glared at her granddaughters. "The trick is in knowing when to stop. If you cry constantly, then you're weak, and wouldn't be worthy of the Sonozaki name."

She began to walk away, but stopped before the door. "However," She turned back. "Be wary of the heart that cries in silence." She looked at the twins intently. "That's when someone really is in danger. Usually happens after an accident. They hold everything back, every tear, and deny who they are and what they feel inside. They're the ones who begin to lose themselves." She seemed to look pointedly at Mion, before she turned back.

"That's a good man you have your eye on, Mion. Not many like him around anymore. Don't lose him."

She left the two standing there, just processing what they had been told. Mion raised a hand to her face, and realized she had been crying as well.

* * *

Keiichi finished his homework a few minutes after Mion had left. So, he had nothing but time to think. He laid on his back and gazed around the room, noticing that Mion still had the blonde doll he gave her after the tournament. He smiled, glad that she still had it. He didn't know why, but he had been nervous giving it to her. He just felt like it was something she would like. And, he didn't want to admit it, but a part of him wished that maybe, just _maybe_ , she kept it simply because it was a gift from him.

He shook his head. What was with that line of thought? It was like all he could think about lately was Mion. Her smile, her fearless personality, her laugh, her eyes, the way she smelled when she hugged him...

He slapped himself in the face. _Snap out of it, Maebara!_ That kind of thinking wasn't healthy... was it?

He'd never really liked any girls before. It wasn't that he wasn't interested, it was simply that none had gotten his interest. Not that girls hadn't been interested in _him_...

Was that what was going on?

The door slid open and he looked up to see Mion enter the room. He sat up and smiled. "Hey!" He said cheerfully.

She looked at him and smiled. "Hey."

He pointed to the doll on the bed. "Glad to see you kept it."

Mion smiled softly. "Well, of course I kept it. It was a gift."

Something was off about her. He didn't know what it was, but he could feel it. Something pulled in his heart, and he couldn't describe it or how he knew, but he _knew_ something was wrong. He stood up, and as he did so, he noticed that her face was slightly wet.

"Mion, are you okay?" He asked, alarmed. "Did something happen?"

She realized he'd seen her tears. She began to wipe her face quickly, embarrassed. "Everything's fine, Keii-chan. Just had a talk with my sister is all-"

She stopped talking when she felt arms envelope her suddenly. Strong, caring arms. Keiichi's arms. "A talk with your sister wouldn't make you cry." He said softly, his lips moving just above her ear. "Not unless it was an argument." He ran his hands through her hair, soothing her as he held her gently. Anything to keep her from being sad.

Her mind was reeling. Was this really happening? Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was afraid he'd feel it.

"I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything, Mion." Keiichi said. "If something is bothering you, I wanna know about it. I want to help you in any way I can. Because we're... close, right?"

She nodded slowly, still in slight shock. But she decided to enjoy the moment. She closed her eyes and returned the hug, burying her face in Keiichi's chest. She suddenly realized that he was a lot more muscular than she had been led to believe. His arms felt like an impenetrable wall surrounding her, and protecting her. If this was what heaven felt like, she wanted to stay like this forever. She didn't care about anything else. She didn't want to move, she didn't even want to breathe. All she wanted was what was happening right here, right now. This moment... It was all too perfect.

She pulled back and looked up at him, his arms still holding her. "Thank you, Keii-chan. I really needed that, I guess."

He smiled. "Happy to help."

As he looked at her, she seemed transformed. The girl that always tormented him, always walked by his side, suddenly seemed different. She was... beautiful...

Keiichi felt himself leaning forward slowly, his body acting on its own. Mion looked at him, her eyes widening. Was she dreaming? She closed her eyes. She could hold her composure if he held her, but if he actually _kissed her_... she would lose it. She would forget all about being a tomboy and just melt in his arms.

The two drew closer, until their lips were almost touching each other, and then...

The door slid open. "Onee..."

The two teenagers pushed away from each other, the moment broken, and they straightened their clothes, blushing profusely.

"Yes, Shion?" Mion said, in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Ummm..." she said slowly, as if she couldn't believe what she saw. "I just..."

"It's okay!" Keiichi said, gathering his stuff. "I finished my work anyways, and it's getting late. I might as well head home." He totally forgot about how Mion had invited him for dinner, and apparently so had she.

"Alright, do you have everything?" Mion asked, helping out, handing him pencils and papers here and there.

"Yeah, I got everything." He said. He smiled warmly at Mion. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow." Mion said as he left the room and began walking home.

* * *

Shion simply stared at her sister. "Onee, did I just... were you about to...?" Her eyes were wide in shock and awe.

"Yes... we were... until YOU BARGED IN!" Mion's fury was sudden and explosive. "I was so _close!_ That was my chance and you _blew it!_ Stupid Shion! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!"

Shion laughed and dodged all the projectiles thrown her way. When her sister finally calmed down, holding the doll close to her, Shion sat on the edge of her bed and looked at Mion. "So... how did it feel?"

Mion was silent, but her face gave it away when a dreamy look washed over her. Her eyes got a far away look and she smiled so warmly. She buried her head behind her knees, and said, "It was amazing... I didn't want it to end at all. I wanted to stay that way forever..."

The younger twin smiled. "Well, that just goes to show I was right, wasn't I? Ol' Keii-chan does feel something towards you." She poked her big sister. "Now all we gotta do is draw that out some more."

Mion looked up at her sister with a hint of tears in her eyes.

Shion smiled. "And I got just the idea..."

* * *

The figure was still there. It had never left.

It smiled. The suspicions were correct. There was definitely something between those two. It knew that they were basically joined at the hip, and where one was, usually the other one was right next to them. And now their relationship was starting to develop.

The plan had been to eliminate those two and cause the group to fall into a state of decay so they could begin to kill each of them, slowly, one by one. Those children didn't deserve a quick death. They deserved to suffer.

But this just made everything easier. Because now, all it had to do was eliminate one of them, or severely injure them, at least, and the other would be so sick with worry they couldn't focus on anything else. And if it could be made to look like their fault...

It chuckled as it began to scratch rather violently at its neck. It turned it's head to the side, and and began to talk to the open air. "Do you see them, grandfather? Do you see them? They're helping us. We won't be forgotten. You won't be forgotten. We will be gods. We will be remembered."

It smiled. "When they die in a few days, everything will be so much easier. And I'm going to savor every minute."

* * *

It was late, as always, when Shion entered the secret room at the Irei clinic. The boy that laid in the bed before her said nothing, as always. He couldn't. He hadn't spoken, or opened his eyes in over a year.

She smiled. "Hi, Satoshi-kun. I'm back. Did you miss me?" She sighed. "I missed you. I still do. You're right here, but you've never felt so far away."

She sat down. "I brought you another book. This one's kinda old, so I hope you forgive me."

She frowned. "I'm sorry about everything, too. I should've told you how I felt earlier. Before everything happened. We could've been together, and I would've seen the signs. I would've been able to tell Dr. Irei sooner, and we could've been able to save you, like he saved Satoko." She sighed once more. "Guess all that's left anymore is regret."

She opened the book. "Speaking of together, did you know that I caught Onee and Keii-chan getting ready to make out? It was awesome to see. Sis is always so timid when it comes to that boy, and Keii-chan is so dense, I sometimes wonder how he manages to think straight."

She looked up at the ceiling. "Everyone is rooting for them, you know. They want them to get together. They'd be so happy together. Even Bachan likes him, and you know how she is about outsiders. Don't you kinda wish that that's how it could've been for us?"

She smiled. "He's a real hero. He's done so much for this village that he doesn't even realize. And he's always so humble about everything, as if everything he does was nothing. Like anyone could've done it. But in reality, I don't know of anyone other than him who went into a debate with Bachan and came out on top alive. And everything that happened with Takano and the whole debacle around Watanagashi last year, he protected everyone and kept them safe, and so did Sis. They deserve each other."

She settled down to start reading.

"I just hope its not too late for them, like it was for us..."

As she began to read, she failed to notice that a smile had appeared on Satoshi Hojo's face. His hand closed, like he was grabbing something, then relaxed, and stayed still.

* * *

 **Two days later, this finally got finished. What the actual heck. I'm getting slow. Whatever... I'll do better next time.**

 **So, yeah, there was some fluff there. And it's gonna go on, and kinda be the driving force behind the story, as you can see here. In the next few chapters, I promise you, things escalate faster than hinted at in this chapter, and it will hurt. Remember how happy you felt in this chapter? Hope you're ready to not feel that way for a while.**

 **Thanks for all the support, you guys. I've been struggling to get this out, and you help keep me going. With your continued support, this story will be finished in no time.**

 **As always, if you haven't already, leave a favorite or a short review. Also don't forget to follow this fic, as there's still plenty left to go!**

 **Stay awesome, you wonderful people! And I will see you in the next chapter, _Darkness Ensues..._**


	5. Darkness Ensues

**Warning... Incoming Super Long Chapter!**

 **You guys have been blowing my mind with the support, we're already hitting 200 reads, with 100 people reading consistently! It hasn't even been a week yet! So, thank you all. I know the story is low in content right now, it's been fluff for a bit, but that's for a reason. But by the end of the chapter, that stuff will end. There will still be fluff here and there, but the plot will finally jump in your faces and say "I'm here!"**

 **So here we go...**

* * *

 **Chapter 4** **: Darkness Ensues**

Rika hardly slept anymore. She didn't know why. Perhaps it was from centuries of staying up and pondering the mysteries of her fate, wondering if she would live or die.

She sat at her usual spot on the windowsill, with Hanyuu sitting against the wall. Moonlight streamed through the window, painting the room in a dull silvery glow. She held in her small hand a glass of wine that she sipped from contently. Hanyuu, on the other hand, drank from a small cup of white grape juice. They sat there, enjoying each other's company: the young girl who had lived for ages and a goddess who had been at her side since birth. But, at the same time, they sat in silence, either unwilling or afraid to bring up the elephant in the room.

Watanagashi. The Cotton Drifting festival. It was this Sunday. They had a week to figure out if they were safe, or if a repeat was bound to happen. Either way, neither of them would sleep well.

They agreed, yes, the primary cause of Rika's deaths were from the hands of Miyo Takano. And they had dealt with her the previous summer. With her out of the way, they should be safe. Right?

But Hanyuu couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. And it bothered her that she couldn't sense what it was.

Normally, Rika would dismiss Hanyuu's ideas as foolish worry, but this time, she felt it too. There was an uneasiness in the air, like a shiver that didn't go away. There was danger here, and it was not going to leave quietly.

Hanyuu shivered slightly. As a goddess, she was able to sense things a mere human had no hope of feeling. And it wasn't always that great. She was a kindhearted goddess (granted she had her own bloody past) and the emotions she sensed in the air were absolutely _terrible._ The blood lust was on part with a demon's. They reminded her of that day, when she faced her daughter and asked her to-

"Hanyuu." Rika said, pulling her out of her thoughts. The young girls voice did not fit the body, as it sounded deeper and wiser.

"Hmm?" she looked up, and saw the young girl had a darkened expression on her face.

"Do you feel something? Outside our house." Rika looked Hanyuu in the eyes, searching.

Hanyuu tilted her head to the side. Yes, there was something there. It wasn't friendly.

She nodded slightly.

"I figured as much." Rika sipped from her wine and beckoned for her friend to look outside.

As she looked, she noticed the moonlight shining out on the stone steps leading to their home, with thick bushes lining the sides. As the strong wind blew, a single bush shook more forcefully than the rest.

She looked at the blue-haired girl and nodded. "There's someone outside spying on us."

"Is it her again?" Rika asked, her voice urgent. She had hoped to never see that vile woman again.

Hanyuu shook her head. "No, this is different. It's not the same feeling I got with Miyo. It's a pure blood lust. No goal to be reached. It's bordering insanity..." She shivered.

"An L5?" Rika asked, eyes raised. There shouldn't be an L5 in the area, as no one had shown signs of developing symptoms.

"I don't think it's that simple." Hanyuu said. "I've only felt this once... And if it's what I think it

is, it's not gonna end well for anyone."

"Something worse than an L5? I find that hard to believe." Rika sipped from her wine and gazed out at the moon hanging high in the sky. "Well, whatever comes, I feel we can take it."

Hanyuu looked at Rika in shock. "Do you even know what you are saying? This is far worse than anything you've encountered! You can't begin to imagine it!"

"Hanyuu, we conquered fate. What can be harder than that?" she smiled at the goddess. "You worry too much. As long as we place trust in our friends, like we did last time, everything will end as it should. With everyone waking up smiling the next day."

Hanyuu frowned. "And you place too much trust in Keiichi and the others. Don't you remember they're only human?"

The girl placed a hand over her chest as she spoke. "I'm only human, Hanyuu. And yet, with you and my friends, I've done things that shouldn't have been possible. I should be dead right now. But I'm not." she smiled. "Granted, I've lived longer than everyone else, barring you, of course."

"But nobody else knows what we know..." Hanyuu began, but Rika cut her off.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Rika smiled. Her voice regained it's sweet tone, better befitting her physical age. "Why don't you drink the rest of that and go to bed? I'll do the same in a bit. We have a long day tomorrow."

Hanyuu opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it. She drained her cup, savoring the sweet drink, then stood up and began to prepare herself for bed. As she looked back to gaze at the young girl, she noticed her gazing at the moon with a fierce intensity.

Her life was in danger. And once again, they didn't know who was after them.

But Hanyuu knew _what_ it was. And it was something that terrified her.

 _"Oh, Rika."_ she thought. _"What would you do, if I told you that even I had been helpless against this? Would you still charge on fearlessly, if you knew that this was what killed me?"_

* * *

 _ **[Saturday afternoon]**_

Keiichi groaned as he walked up the road leading up to Mion's house. He hadn't been able to sleep last night, as his head kept playing the same scene over and over in his head.

 _Him and Mion holding each other, leaning slowly, staring into each other's eyes, getting ready to-_

To do what, exactly?

Keiichi groaned. He wasn't actually falling for her, was he?

He shook the thoughts from his head. He couldn't be thinking like that today. He had to prepare his mind for whatever Mion had in store for him... He shivered as he tried to imagine what horrors awaited him...

As he arrived at the front gates, a strange sight awaited him. Mion was standing at the gate, leaning up against the door. She looked agitated, which was partly his fault. He had overslept.

As he got close, she looked over and made a big show of shaking her head at him.

"You're late, Keii-chan. You were supposed to be here two days ago!" she grinned.

"Oh, piss off." Keiichi chuckled. "It's only been 12 hours since I've seen you, so don't get your pants all twisted."

"Well, if they are, it's your fault." she started walking towards him.

"So, what's the plan today, _master_?" He put heavy emphasis on the name.

"Oh, just drop the title, would you?" she groaned. "Just call me Mion. I had hoped it wouldn't, but having you call me that got old after the first couple times."

"Okay, then." Keiichi shrugged. "Whats on the schedule for today, Mion? More math homework I gotta show you how to do?"

"Hey, I only goofed on that homework because I felt like it." She winked cutely at him. "I'm smarter than I let on. I wouldn't be allowed to be the head of the family if I was dumb, would I?"

He looked at her, confused. "What?"

"Anyways," She continued, "We're going into town today, so we'd better get a move on. I have a lot of stuff planned out." She straightened out her outfit, and as she walked past him, he noticed that she was dressed different from usual.

She was wearing a simple white blouse with a frilly looking black skirt that hung just below her knees. Small blue moons hung from her earlobes and shone in the sun. Keiichi's mouth dropped open, and his brain shut down. She was...

"Close your mouth, a fly's gonna get in there." She smirked. "Not that I wouldn't mind seeing that. I'd pay good money, in fact."

He continued to look, and she blushed slightly. "Okay, seriously, what's up with you? You look like you've never seen me in a girly outfit before."

"I haven't." He admitted.

"Ah," She twirled around for him. "Well, how do I look?"

"Well, to be honest," He began. "I didn't think it was possible, to be honest."

Mion flushed with anger and crossed her arms. "What, you didn't think it was possible for me to be girly?"

"No, I didn't think it was possible for you to look any more amazing than you already were."

Time seemed to freeze as he said that.

He blushed as he realized what he had said and looked away. _Me and my big mouth... I'm gonna get slapped and called a pervert..._

Mion stared at him, and said, "Oh..." she looked down. "I see."

She turned sharply and said "Okay, then! Let's get on the road!" She pumped her fist in the air in excitement. She was hoping he hadn't seen the uncontrollable grin that had blossomed on her face.

 _Keiichi thinks I look amazing... wow. Could this day get any better?_

* * *

It was a wonderful day. He got to help Mion pick out some new outfits, and he landed a tough-looking black sports jacket that got Mion's stamp of approval. They had fun at the local carnival, and ended the day by eating at the Angel Mort.

Shion just happened to be working that day and ended up as their server. As she left their table with their order, she gave her big sister a thumbs up behind Keiichi's back. Mion simply smiled.

It wasn't over yet. The real fun would take place on Monday.

Little did they all know, that would be the day that their little group would crack.

"Oh, Keii-chan?" She said nonchalantly. "When we get back, you're scrubbing the floors. I spilled some tea this morning, but you can go ahead and clean all of the flooring. It needs to be done." She drank from her soda and grinned as Keiichi's somewhat happy expression deteriorated into despair.

* * *

 _ **[Monday morning]**_

At school, the Sonozaki twins walked in to the classroom just to hear Satoko yell for them to stop. Knowing her, they froze in their tracks.

"What is it this time, Satoko?" Shion asked her adopted little sister.

"Just hold on a sec, Shion." Satoko said as she met them at the door. She grabbed at something invisible in the air, then said, "Okay, go."

They hurried through, and nothing happened. "What was that all about?" Mion mirrored her sister's concern.

"Didn't want to set off my surprise." Satoko snickered as she pointed upwards at the door frame.

They looked up, and realized what Satoko had meant.

"Oh." They said in unison.

"Oh, indeed." Satoko said. "Ohohohohoho!"

Ten minutes later... _BOOM._

A ten pound sack of flour landed on Keiichi's head and promptly exploded, sending white plumes billowing everywhere. Satoko howled with laughter and so did the rest of the class.

"Alright, everyone. Settle down and get ready for class." Chie said as she walked into the room. She looked in shock at the white figure before her. "Who is that?" She said, placing a hand over her mouth.

"That's Keiichi-kun!" Rena piped in cheerfully. "He's gotten into trouble again. Again!"

The teacher sighed in exasperation. "It would seem I'm having this conversation all the time." She massaged her forehead then said. "Clean up your mess, Maebara-kun. I'll be waiting for that history packet when you're done."

"But this isn't even-!" She cut him off with a glare.

Satoko could barely hold in her laughter. "You need to learn better, Keiichi-san."

Keiichi groaned. _This is so unfair!_

* * *

Rika looked over at the upperclassmen. They always had their desks bunched together so they could work, but something seemed different about their table today. It seemed more lively than usual, and Keiichi and Mion seemed to be sneaking glances at each other while Shion and Rena just looked at them and grinned.

A cold sense of panic fell over Rika. _Oh, no. It's happening again._

In several of the untold failed worlds, Mion and Keiichi did become a couple. But it was very rare. And when that happened, for some reason everything fell apart at the seams. One of them would get seriously injured and the other would get so messed up over it that they became oblivious to everything around them. And the whole group would fall apart, leaving Rika alone and defenseless. And then she would inevitably die.

She calmed herself. It wouldn't happen again. It couldn't happen! They had broken the loop of fate that had plagued her for centuries, and now they were free to do as they wished.

She was happy for them. She really was. She and the others had known for ages how they two felt about each other, even when they didn't. Mion knew about her feelings, of course, but she was shy and afraid of admitting how much she loved the young man. She made a big deal out of being a tomboy, claiming she would never be able to be with him because she wasn't _girly_ enough.

And Keiichi? Well, that dolt didn't have the faintest clue. He was a genius when it came to everything else. And then he fell short when it came to girls. He was no stranger to being the center of attention with the ladies, but picking out one had always been tough for him. At times he was a bit of a pervert, but then again, every boy his age was.

But one thing was always clear. He was very protective of Mion. If he ever felt like she would be seriously hurt, he'd go out of his way to keep her from harm.

They were meant to be together. Rika just hoped this time they could live a happy life without the other dying, like they did in the previous worlds...

Next to her, Hanyuu shivered.

* * *

Shion noticed the change in behavior between the two teenagers and grinned. Mion seemed particularly lost in her thoughts, her eyes sparkling with a rare girlish delight, while Keiichi seemed to stare a hole through the paper, seeming to replay a single cycle of thought through his head.

Mion imagined Keiichi next to her, his strong hand holding tightly onto hers, saying he'll never let go. She imagined them going out on dates, real dates. Not the one she dragged him into on Saturday. Sharing the Couple's Special at the Angel Mort...

It was all she could do to not break her tomboy image and squeal like the lovesick girl she really was.

Meanwhile, Keiichi simply wondered what the heck he had gotten himself into.

"Keiichi-kun?" Rena said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "I can't find the answer to this question..."

"Where is it?" He looked over at his friend's paper, and saw the question. "Oh, just go to this paragraph here, and you'll find the answer."

She looked intently at the reading, then her face lit up. "Ah! I see what it is! Thank you, thank you!" She began to scribble away.

Mion looked at Rena. She was not going to lose to her. For once, she felt determined, inspired by the speech from her sister and from the affection she'd felt from Keiichi when he held her. This time, she was gonna go for the gold.

* * *

 _"And that's it!"_ Chie said as she finished leading her students through their daily exercise. "The rest of the time can be spent as you wish."

"Thank you, sensei!"

The club gathered at its usual spot, eager to begin a new battle.

"What are we doing today, Mion?" Shion asked her sister with a wink.

"Well, today we are playing Zombie Tag!" She replied, with a huge grin on her face.

"Yes!" Keiichi pumped his fist in the air. "I can't lose this time! I will avenge myself!"

"But!" Mion interrupted his speech. "There's gonna be a twist thrown in especially for you, Keii-chan."

He slumped over. "Aww, come on, can't you give me a break for once?"

"Nope!" She smiled. "You're still my slave after all." She started to turn away, but then she looked sideways at him. "You know what? I think I might go easy on you this time. I won't do what I was planning on doing."

She pointed. "So I'll do this. That shirt you're wearing? It comes off for the entire game!"

He stared, a bright red blush growing on his face. "Huh?! At school?"

"No complaining and no whining, Keii-chan. Shirt off, now." She grinned evilly. "Or we could just do what I was planning and have you wear the swan outfit..."

"I'm good! No need for that..." Keiichi sighed, then slowly peeled his white shirt off, revealing a very athletic figure underneath. Muscles rippled under his skin as he carried his shirt over to the shed and set it on the grass. As he looked back, blushing profusely, he could see the girls simply staring at him.

"What? Is there something on my back?" He began to reach behind him, trying to swipe something off his back, even though there was nothing there. The muscles in his back rolled with his movements, giving the girls quite an eyeful.

Shion looked at Keiichi, then whispered to her sister. "This plan of mine turned out better than I thought... Did you have any idea that he was that muscular?"

Mion shook her head in wonder. "No." She eyed a bead of sweat that ran down Keiichi's chest and felt like she was on the verge of a massive nosebleed.

"You're a really lucky girl, sis." Shion shook her head, pinching her nose. "Wow. We need to get you two together NOW.

"Keiichi looks really strong!" Satoko said. "Must be from running from all the traps I set up."

Rika simply smiled at Mion's expression as she said, "So, who's gonna be the zombie?"

That seemed to pull her out of her daze. "Rock, Paper Scissors, as always!"

Everyone gathered around in a circle and readied themselves.

"1, 2, 3! Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

"Ah well." Shion said. "Guess I'm it! Count to a hundred?"

Mion shook her head. "We're running low on time today, so let's just do 50."

Shion shrugged. "Okay, then!"

They all began to run as the younger twin began the countdown.

"Good luck, Keiichi-kun!" Rena said as everyone began to peel away from him.

"Wait, why are you all leaving me!" Keiichi screamed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hanyuu said. "You're the bait, so the rest of us can live!"

"What?! No fair!" He screamed as Shion finished the countdown and turned to look at him. She pointed at him, then slid the finger across her throat. Keiichi gulped.

Shion took after him at high speed, cackling evilly as she did. Keiichi began to run for his life. He came to the edge of the school yard and hid behind a corner just as Shion bolted right past him.

He stayed there, catching his breath. Was he safe? Probably. Now all he had to do was wait everyone out and win the game.

But a few minutes later, he felt a tugging sensation on his shorts, and looked down.

Rika was looking at him with a smile. "So you're hiding here for a bit?" She said sweetly.

"Yeah," He grinned. "They'll never catch us here."

"But we just did." She grinned at him. Keiichi realized he should have never let down his guard and screamed just as Rika and Shion pounced on him.

* * *

"Man, I really thought I was gonna win this time." Keiichi said sadly. They were still searching for the remaining 'humans' in the game. Mion, Rena and Satoko were still missing. They had just caught Hanyuu hiding in one of the plants, and she was now scanning the grounds along with them.

"Well, there's a way you can still win, Keii-chan." Shion said, then winked at him. "You can make sure my sister doesn't win. Then she can't say anything about you losing!"

Keiichi smiled, determined. "Yeah, sounds like a great idea."

Just then, a flash of bright green ran in front of them and slowed down to catch it's breath.

"Speak of the devil..." Shion said, surprised.

Mion looked around once she caught her breath and froze when she saw them. _Oops! That wasn't supposed to happen._

"Uh, hi!" Mion laughed nervously. "Fancy meeting you all here..."

"Oh, you're not getting away this easily!" Keiichi cackled as he stepped forward. "You're mine, Mion!"

She grinned. "Then catch me, if you can!" She waved as she ran away from them, with Keiichi close behind her.

He chased her all the way around the school yard, making sure never to lose sight of her. She ran and hid, ducked and darted everywhere, but he always knew where she was and kept up with her the whole time.

"You're doing better than I thought, Keii-chan!" Mion yelled out. "Guess I really gotta go all out this time, eh?"

"You're going down, I already told you!" he replied.

"Yeah, yeah." She said. "Try this!"

She ran towards the shed, running along the side of the building. Keiichi almost had her, but just as they reached the edge of the building, she spun a complete 180 degrees and ran in the opposite direction. Keiichi missed her by literally a hair's breadth. Her hair slipped through his fingers, mocking him.

"Not this time, Keii-chan!" Mion laughed, delighted.

He groaned, but laughed as well. He was having fun. He then turned around to chase her again, but he slipped and his feet flew out from beneath him. His head slammed into the dirt, sending a wave of agony through his head. He groaned, beating himself up mentally for being a such a klutz, and began to get to his feet.

But before he could, he felt something heavy land on his head. And it was much, much heavier than the ten pounds of flour from this morning.

There was a sharp pain in the back of his skull, and he knew no more.

* * *

Mion laughed. She'd fooled him yet again! This game was gonna be her's...

"I'm sorry, but you snooze, you lose, Keii-chan!" she yelled behind her.

But this time, there was no response.

"Keii-chan?" She then looked back. There was nobody there. Surely he'd been right behind her?

She frowned as she stopped. She couldn't have lost him that quickly. Mion prided herself on her speed, but even she wasn't that fast.

A sick feeling developed in her gut, and before she knew it, she ran back to the shed. He'd probably fallen and was a little dazed! Nothing terrible, right? Seriously, what could possibly happen to him at a school?

She kept telling herself this over and over as she approached where she'd last seen Keiichi. She found him laying on the ground in a heap.

"Come on, Keii-chan." She joked. "This isn't the time to be napping! Get up!"

No response.

"Hey.." She said, losing her smile. "Are you okay?"

And that's when she saw the oil can next to him, rolling back and forth. Sharp ridges jutted out from the bottom of the can, the sound of rolling liquid echoing inside it.

And that's when she saw the blood. It was everywhere. On the bottom of the can, on Keiichi's face, in his hair, on his back, everywhere.

"Keiichi...?" She said, her voice tinged in fear.

No response.

Mion screamed.

* * *

Shion heard her sister scream and felt her blood run cold. Her mind froze, and all she could do was simply run. She ran as fast as humanly possible to where here sister was.

Fearless Mion... what could've frightened her like that?

The others were right behind her, Satoko jumping out of the flower bed in a panic. And when they reached Mion, they saw the scene before them and froze.

Mion held Keiichi in her lap, his head a bloodied mess. Mion had taken Keiichi's shirt and was holding it tightly against an unseen wound on the back of his head, but it was already stained a deep red. That did nothing to solve the issue of his nose, which had been completely smashed and was leaking blood and mucus. She held the edge of her shirt up to his face to try and stauch the bleeding.

"Chie-sensei... where is she? Where is she?!" Mion sobbed as she saw her sister kneel next to her.

Shion shrugged, still in shock. "I... I don't..."

Mion seized her sister's arm. "You need to get her... now."

But the blue haired teacher was right behind them, and when she saw what happened, her heart dropped.

"What happened here?" she cried.

"We don't know... don't know..." Rena said, her eyes locked on the collapsed figure before her.

"You need to do something!" Mion cried. "It's bad!" She began to rock from side to side slightly, and Shion had to set her hands on her shoulders to keep her sister somewhat calm.

The teacher didn't say anything, but she darted towards the school building, eager to find a phone.

"Is he gonna die?" Mion asked, her hand coming away bloodied as she fixed Keiichi's shirt to better stop the bleeding. Shion shook her head again. She didn't know.

Mion furiously turned her gaze to Satoko, who had walked over to stand next to Shion unconsciously. "Was this you?" Mion growled. "Did you do this to him?"

Satoko took a step back, tears forming in her eyes. "No... I wouldn't do this... It's too big... I wouldn't hurt my Nii-nii..." she looked at Keiichi, then sat down and buried her face into Shion's shirt.

"I knew you were going to go too far one of these days!" Mion shouted.

"No, Mii-chan! Calm down!" Rena jumped between the girls. "Mion, you know Keiichi-kun was like a big brother to her..."

"Stop acting like he's already dead!" Mion screamed, tears streaming down her face as she began to sob even harder.

 _We'd gotten so close... so damn close... why did this have to happen to me?_ Mion thought as she silently broke down.

Rika looked forlornly at the scene before her, a deep sadness welling up inside her. Hanyuu rested a hand on her shoulders, but it did nothing to help. Hanyuu whimpered softly, and Rika began to cry as she looked at her friend and companion.

"It's happening all over again..." Rika said tearfully. Hanyuu shook her head. They looked at Mion, who seemed oblivious to the world. For all she knew, the world had ceased to exist as she held the boy she loved close, as he slowly bled to death.

"Maybe we didn't beat fate after all." Rika said.

* * *

The man known as Kirei watched as the children began to fall into a state of panic. As he stood, he picked up the roll of string and sheathed his knife. That little blonde girl claimed she was the best trapper she knew, and that was true to a certain extent. But nobody had ever topped Kirei when it came to traps. Because when he made traps, they were simple, and he made them to kill effectively.

He grinned mirthlessly and walked away. One down, five more to go.

* * *

 **Well. This is what I meant by things were going to start picking up in this chapter. I know a lot of people were complaining about it being mainly fluff, but there was a reason for it.**

 **I always wondered what other worlds Rika had been in. The other failed Hinamizawa's. We never got to see all of them, so I thought I might explore the possibilities of what could've happened in those worlds.**

 **Mion and Keiichi growing close set off another series of events that could possibly end in Rika's death all over again.**

 **Will Keiichi survive from losing so much blood? Will the club live to see the end? Or will Rika die for the last time?**

 **...I guess we'll just have to see.**

 **Leave me a favorite and don't forget to follow the story, because the excitement is just starting. Reviews are also helpful as well, I freely welcome and encourage them. As always, thank you wonderful people for the support.**

 **I will see you guys in _Chapter 5_ _: The Heart That Cries In Silence_**

 ** _A/N: FF is giving me grief with the document manager, so please forgive me. Line breaks aren't saving like they're supposed to. Let me if you guys are experiencing the same things I am!_**


	6. The Heart that Cries in Silence

**Hope you guys are enjoying the ride so far. I'm having fun myself. Thanks for the follows and reviews, you guys are awesome. Not a lot to say this time, so here we go.**

 **Here's the next chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 5** **: The Heart That Cries in Silence**

Pain. That was all he knew. It was all encompassing, a beast that demanded attention and severely punished anything and anyone that denied it. He felt it in his bones, he felt it in his heart, he felt it in his soul.

 _Is this it?_ He thought. _Is this where I die?_

The beast roared, and he began to fade again.

 _Great. Just when things started to make sense..._

Right before he faded, an image flashed in his mind. It was quick, but it gave him some strength.

It was a girl's hair... the color of emeralds...

* * *

Mion simply stared at the wall, suddenly very interested in the texture of the dried paint. It crisscrossed and jutted at weird angles, and at such irregular intervals that normally it would be interesting to no one in their right mind. But Mion was certainly not in her right mind. Not at the moment. If anything, she wished she could stop feeling and thinking and just _be_.

The pain she felt in her heart was agonizing. It tore at her and mocked her as she dared to hope for the best. It drove her absolutely _mad._

 _Keii-chan is gonna pull through,_ she thought. _I know he will... he has to..._

 _You know he won't_ , the pain told her. _You saw the blood. There's no way Keiichi could survive that. It was everywhere._

 _Yes, but, Keii-chan has been through a lot. He's pulled through!_

 _But there was never that much blood. And you know he hasn't been this messed up before... He's going to die, Mion. You know that..._

 _I... I can't..._

The internal debate continued like this, running around her mind in circles, with neither side getting anywhere. She continued to stare at the wall blankly, unaware of the others watching her worriedly.

Shion watched her sister, all too aware of what was going on with her. She was torturing herself over everything, just like when Shion had found out Satoshi was hidden here at the clinic. She felt hope, that he would pull through, but also despair at the fact that he might die as well. Those two emotions did not belong together, so they battled constantly, until one was proven right.

She teared up, feeling sorrow for her sister. She had prayed that Mion would never have to experience the pain she'd known, that she could be happy being with Keiichi. But here she was, a hollow shell sitting two feet away from her, unaware of anything around her, and unwilling to feel.

Rika and Hanyuu sat on the couch opposite her, keeping to themselves, but emotions were etched deep into their faces. Rika seemed as if she had aged, her eyes were dark and brooding, and they seemed to be writhe with thought and worry.

Rena had rode with them as they followed Keiichi to the hospital, but she'd had to leave to go take care of her father and dinner. She promised she would be right back after she'd finished at home. She seemed in a daze. Everyone did.

Keiichi's parents had rushed over immediately after Chie called them and told them of the situation. Keiichi's mom seemed like she was barely holding it together while his dad seemed stone-faced. Shion guessed that was because if he even tried to show emotions, his wife would lose it because he'd be unable to hold back the tears. She knew how much the man loved his son.

Satoko held firmly onto Shion's shirt, whimpering slightly. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, as if she was remembering the accident. All the blood, the look of Keiichi so _defeated..._ It was too much for any of them to comprehend.

Keiichi, in many ways, had been their rock. The foundation that cemented their friendships and had brought everyone closer together. They hadn't realized it, but they relied on him just as much, if not more, than Mion. Now that his life was in jeopardy, they couldn't help but feel as if the world was crashing around them...

The door to the clinic opened, and Mion and Shion's parents walked in, followed by their grandmother, Oryo Sonozaki. Almost everyone stood up in respect to the head of the Sonozaki family. Mion, however, remained seated, unmoved.

Her mother's eyes widened, and she wanted to go to her daughter, but her husband held her back. He shook his head, and just gazed in deep sorrow at his daughter. He wanted to do the same, but he knew there was nothing that could help her now. She had to fight this alone.

"I did warn her..." Oryo simply said. But in contrast to what her daughter and son-in-law were doing, she went and sat by Mion. She didn't say anything, but followed Shion's suit and offered Mion her company.

"Did they say anything?" Oryo said to Shion. She shook her head.

"We've been here for about an hour, and we haven't seen anyone." She looked curiously at her grandmother. "But, Ba-chan... how did you know he was hurt?"

"It's all anyone is talking about in the village." Akane said, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's only natural she would learn about it. And when she heard, she insisted on coming here herself."

Shion's eyes widened. Oryo Sonozaki was known to extremely dislike outsiders. The only exception, it seemed, was Keiichi Maebara. It seemed the old lady had a soft spot for him in her crude heart, after all.

The room descended into silence. All anyone could do now was hope.

* * *

People filtered into the waiting room, offering condolences to Keiichi's parents and to his friends. Mion still said nothing after two hours. She ignored any and all efforts to get a reaction out of her. She refused food and drink from her family, and continued to stare at the wall.

Rena finally returned, panting. She'd rode her bike the whole way over here. "Have they said anything?"

Shion shook her head. "Nothing. They haven't even left the room."

Rena sighed. "I wonder if he's okay... I wonder."

"Who knows." Rika said. She'd given up on maintaining her little girl personality, letting her true personality shine through to her friends. It was very rare that she ever did that, but it surprised nobody that she did it now. "I've seen a lot of things, but this is new to me."

"But, in the past worlds, you saw something like this happen to Keii-chan, right?" Shion said.

She shook her head. "In the worlds where this situation took place, it was always Mion that got injured. Keiichi never handled it well. He lashed out at everyone, and was very unstable. However, this time, it's Keiichi in peril." She looked over at Mion. "This situation seems somehow worse."

"Why?" Rena asked curiously. She'd seen Keiichi angered before, but it was always contained. She couldn't imagine Keiichi flying off the hook.

"Because the look she has in her eyes right now," Rika said honestly. "Was the same look she gave me in the last world. Right after Keiichi was shot and killed, and before she sacrificed herself as a decoy to try and get us to safety. "

She looked over at Mion, and her unseeing eyes. "She's losing the will to live. Her heart is in agony, and she's doing nothing to express it. She's holding it in and letting it build."

Shion's eyes widened as she remembered her grandmother's words the other night. "The heart that cries in silence, right?"

Rika looked seriously at Shion. "That is a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. You literally will tear yourself to pieces until there's nothing left to hold onto. No heart, no mind, no soul. You become empty." She gestured at her sister. "That's what's happening to her right now."

"I wonder why she's taking it so hard..." Rena said softly. "She was the one to find him, but still..."

"You know how you feel now, Rena?" Shion said. Rena nodded. "He means a lot to you, right?"

Rena nodded again.

"Well, imagine how much more Keiichi meant to Mion, and then multiply your pain by twenty."

Rena's eyes widened, then softened. "I understand. She must be so heartbroken. They were getting so close together, and then..." her voice trailed off.

Satoko looked at Rika. "Will Mion ever get better?"

"Hard to say." Hanyuu said. "It's all up to her. It could go either way. But she'll never be the same. No matter what. If he survives, then she might cling to him tighter than before. She's gonna be extremely protective of him. But she will always feel somewhat responsible for what happened. And if he dies, it could go one of two ways. She could become a complete introvert, close herself off from everyone in the world and ultimately self destruct. Or she could harden her heart until she can't feel anything anymore. She will refuse to love." She chuckled dryly. "And you thought Oryo was bad. That old lady still has a lot of love left to give. She just refuses to show it."

They continued talking like this. Meanwhile, Mion's parents and Oryo were staring at the girl who sat by herself.

"I want to do something..." Akane said, trying to keep from crying all over again. "This doesn't feel right. Usually Mion is always finding the bright side of everything. She tries to stay strong for the others, no matter how bleak it is..." She sniffed. "It's so unnatural seeing her like this. It's like she's not even trying!"

"It's because she's not." Oryo told her daughter. "She's refusing to believe everything and is shutting herself away. It's all she can do."

"But, Mom..." She started to say, but her husband stopped her.

"Akane," Takao said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and holding her. "How would you feel if you lost me like that, and you had no idea if I was going to survive or not?" He pointed at their daughter. "That's her right now. You two are very much alike in the amount of love you have. You have an insane amount of love to give, but with that love comes the potential for a great amount of pain."

"Yes, but..."

"Sweetheart, there's nothing anyone can do. I've told you already." He looked at the door to the operating room. "Honestly, the only thing that could make her better is Keiichi walking through that door and giving her the biggest hug ever." He shook his head at the impossible idea. His heart ached to see his daughter in such a state.

And all he could do was wait.

* * *

The door to the room opened. Everyone stood as Dr. Irei walked in the room. He'd heard about Keiichi and volunteered to help with the surgery.

Mion seemed to come out of her trance, and ran to the doctor, asking frantically, "Is he..?"

He looked at her, his face unmoving. Mion's shoulders drooped in despair. "No... he can't..."

Irei put his hands on her shoulders and smiled brightly. "He's going to be just fine, Mion. He's sleeping right now."

Mion's eyes widened, then began to tear up. "Oh, thank God..." She began to cry in relief as her sister walked over and hugged her with joy. Everyone in the room seemed to sigh in relief. Even Oryo seemed to relax somewhat.

"Can, can I see him?" Mion asked tentatively.

"Well," Irei replied. "Honestly, it's a damn miracle that he's even alive right now. He'll probably be out for a few hours. Under normal circumstances, I would say no..."

Mion looked like she was about to yell at the doctor, but he held his hand up. "But, I'll make an exception. Go on in." He gestured towards the door.

Mion bowed in appreciation for the doctor's generosity. The rest of the club members began to follow, but Irei stopped them.

"Too many people isn't the best idea right now." He said apologetically. "Maybe tomorrow would be better."

Rena started to protest, but Mion gave her a small smile. "It'll be okay, Rena. Come with me to see him tomorrow, okay?"

"Mii-chan..." Rena said softly. But she nodded, and she and the others began to leave.

Shion began to leave as well, but Mion grabbed her arm. "Mion?" the younger twin said in surprise.

"Stay with me, please?" Mion asked, her voice small.

Shion stared at her sister, then looked at the doctor for permission. He looked pensive for a moment, then sighed.

"I guess it can't be helped." He opened the door, and allowed them to enter the room.

* * *

Keiichi was laying in the hospital bed, seemingly at peace. His head was heavily bandaged, and his eyes were closed tightly.

Mion's eyes never left the boy. She walked slowly over to the bed and knelt next to it. Without seeming to know what she was doing, she slipped her hand into Keiichi's and held it tightly.

"Keii-chan?" She said, knowing full well he wouldn't respond.

His hand was cold, and it unnerved her, but she knew it could be so much worse. She could've never been able to hold it at all. She could've never been able to see him again, except in a casket.

She buried her face in Keiichi's chest and began to cry. She sobbed, saying the same words over and over and over.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

 _I'm sorry._

Shion softly rubbed her sister's back, empathizing with her. She looked up at the ceiling and prayed to whatever gods existed, that Keiichi would get better sooner. She couldn't bare to see her sister this way.

After a while, she realized she couldn't hear her Mion anymore. She looked down and noticed that Mion had cried herself to sleep on Keiichi. Shion smiled softly, because Mion's face was relaxed. It was more content than she had ever seen, but also there was a hint of regret there. Shion remembered what Hanyuu had said earlier.

" _If he survives, then she might cling to him tighter than before. She's gonna be extremely protective of him. But she will always feel somewhat responsible for what happened."_

Mion and Keiichi weren't out of the woods, not by a long shot.

Shion took off her jacket and placed it over her sister to keep her warm. She then walked over to the chair and settled in to sleep as well.

* * *

Rika, Hanyuu and Satoko entered their house silently, each one lost in their own thoughts. Hanyuu mumbled something about going to fix dinner, and Rika merely nodded. They walked their separate ways, and Rika found herself at her familiar spot on the windowsill, staring out at the moon. She wondered about Keiichi, and hoped that he would wake up soon. She needed Mion to be able to focus on making sure nothing happened to her.

Satoko suddenly burst into the room, screaming, "Rika! We're in trouble!"

Hanyuu and Rika both started. "What's going on, Satoko? Calm down!"

Satoko breathed heavily, her eyes wide in fear. "Somebody's been in the house..."

Something rattled downstairs. Everyone froze.

"What was that...?" Hanyuu said.

Outside, the cicada's cry grew louder...

* * *

"...ion...Mion... no..."

Keiichi's voice woke Mion first, then the grip on her hand tightened. She sat up quickly and looked at him. "Keii-chan?"

It was morning, but he was still asleep. He was talking in his sleep, and his face seemed distressed. "No... don't..."

"What? Don't what?" Mion asked frantically, waking her sister in the process. "Keii-chan, talk to me, please!"

"Onee, what's wrong?" Shion said sleepily. But she heard Keiichi muttering in his sleep and rushed over, hearing the rising panic in Keiichi's voice.

"Don't go.. please... don't leave..." Keiichi's eyes scrunched together tightly. "I... I can't..."

"I'm here, Keiichi!" She said, not even realizing she'd said his full name. "I'm not leaving!"

"He's having one hell of a nightmare." Shion said, noticing a tear trickling down his cheek.

"I... I need... you... please...Mion..."

Mion looked up at her sister slowly, her eyes wide. "Did he just say...?"

Shion simply looked back at her. "You heard him. So now what are you going to do? You need to do something."

Mion looked conflicted, then she squeezed Keiichi's hand. He gasped softly, stopping his mutterings for a moment.

"I'm right here, Keii-chan." She said his name lovingly, using a tone of voice Shion had never heard from her sister before. "I won't leave you. Not ever. You're stuck with me whether you like it or not." She smiled.

Then she frowned, as if contemplating something. Then, she made up her mind, leaned forward, and kissed Keiichi lightly on his forehead. The boy immediately seemed to relax, and sighed softly. His panic left, and he said softly, "...Mion..."

Mion looked at her sister. "What just happened?"

Shion smiled. "I think this means the idiot finally understands. He was probably dreaming you were gonna leave him and never come back, and that forced him to admit he cares." She winked at her. "I think things are going to get very interesting for you now."

* * *

Shion noticed that their parents had brought them a change of clothes late last night. After all, they had come straight to the hospital in their gym t-shirts and shorts. So they quickly took turns changing in the bathroom and making themselves somewhat decent. After that, Shion left the room to go visit Satoshi at the clinic down the street. As she looked back, she saw that Mion had brought a chair close to the bed and was still holding Keiichi's hand tightly. She smiled and headed out. Maybe things would work out well in the end after all.

But she couldn't shake the feeling she got when she looked at Mion's eyes. They seemed faded. Guilty. Haunted.

 ** _A few minutes later..._**

She entered the familiar room. Nothing had changed of course. Satoshi was still asleep, and he showed no signs of stirring. She felt a deep sadness stirring in her heart and she immediately rushed over to his bed and mimicked her sister's actions from last night. She knelt next to the bed and cried into his chest, inconsolable.

She cried from loneliness. She cried out of love. She cried out of sheer desperation. She had no idea why these emotions made their appearance now, after visiting him everyday for almost a year, but she made no effort to stop the flow of tears. Shion opened up and just let loose.

"Please, Satoshi-kun. Don't leave me alone..." She sobbed. "I've waited... so long... but you won't wake up... I don't want anyone else, please... don't leave be alone... don't..."

She stayed like this for half an hour, with the tears drying up halfway through the time. Suddenly, she felt something press on her head. It was soft, and gentle, and _familiar..._ It softly stroked her hair, and shivers ran down her spine as she turned her head to look at the familiar red-violet eyes that finally opened after so long.

"Did you wait for me... all this time?" He croaked out.

She nodded slowly. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening.

Tears welled up in his eyes. "Thank you... Shion..."

* * *

 **Sorry for the short chapter, I'm setting up for everything else that is about to happen.**

 **A lot of stuff is going to happen in the next coming chapters. Satoshi wakes up after so long, Rika has to deal with an intruder, and Miyo Takano decides to finally reveal herself and makes her move...**

 **Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one, _Chapter 6_ _: Revelations..._**


	7. Revelations

**How are you guys doing? Are y'all getting ready for Christmas? I know I am. I recently just put up the tree at my house and, to be honest, I still haven't bought my Christmas presents. I know, I'm such a procrastinator. But hey, I got a lot of stuff going on. Including my IT courses. Ugh. I'll be taking my first exam pretty soon. Wish me luck!**

 **So after I got done with the last chapter, I got pretty upset because I had to hold back on it, content wise. So, I hurried up and got to work on the next one, because I was really looking forward to writing the rest of the chapters. Including the "Books." What are the "Books," you ask? Hehehe, I guess you'll have to read until the end of this chapter to find out...**

 **Speaking of which, here's chapter 6! Enjoy...**

* * *

 **Chapter 6** **: Revelations**

When Keiichi woke, he was very confused. His head throbbed lightly, and his eyes hurt. Sunlight streamed through a nearby window, almost blinding him. He had no idea where he was. Last thing he remembered was playing tag with Mion and then...

Then what? He scratched the back of his head, then noticed that the top his head was firmly bandaged.

 _What the...?_ He looked around and finally began to make sense of everything around him. He was in a hospital room.

 _I remember..._ he thought. _Something hit me on the head, but... what happened after?_

His hand suddenly tightened around something. He looked over to see what it was. He was holding someone's hand. He looked up, expecting to see his mother, but... it was Mion, seemingly fast asleep.

Mion Sonozaki was holding his hand. His face felt hot... and her hand felt just as warm. He felt his heart flutter.

He couldn't deny it. He was in love with her. He probably didn't admit it before because she seemed so out of his league. She was the next head of the most powerful family in the village. And on top of it all, she was just so simply _amazing_ , in both the looks and talents department. She absolutely infuriated him at times when she would single him out when they had club activities. But he couldn't imagine anyone else being his best friend.

He tentatively squeezed her hand. Her eyes flew open, and she said, "Keii-chan?"

 _Oops!_ Keiichi blushed. "Uh, hi! I didn't know you were awake."

"Well, yeah. It's almost noon!" She smirked. "You don't think I'm that lazy, do you?"

"Of course not! I... uh... I just..." He was still very aware of his hand in hers, and apparently so was she.

She quickly pulled her hand away and cleared her throat. "So... how are you feeling?"

"Well, my head is throbbing, but that's about it." He looked in her eyes. "Mion, what happened to me? I don't remember anything."

She blushed suddenly. "So... you don't remember last night?"

He tilted his head. "What happened last night?"

If it was possible, she seemed to turn even redder. "Nothing! Nothing happened!" She cleared her throat again. "Someone tried to kill you, Keii-chan."

Keiichi's eyes looked at his friend. "Seriously. Don't you think you're exaggerating just a tad bit?"

She shook her head. "It was deliberate. An oilcan filled with several gallons water was rigged to fall on you when you ran under there. The bottom was cut and sharpened in order to cut you deeply, and it worked. You should've seen all the blood when I found you... I thought you were dead right there..." She seemed to withdraw into herself, and she put a hand on the side of the bed in order to steady herself. "I should've been more aware of everything around me, I could've kept you from getting hurt..."

Without stopping to think, he put his hand over hers. "Hey, Mion. Don't think like that."

Her eyes bore into his, surprised at his actions. "What do you mean?"

"I'm trying to say that I'm okay now." He winked at her. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm a lot tougher than I look. Besides, you got more important things to worry about than me."

Mion suddenly bristled. Keiichi winced. "I get the feeling I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you shouldn't have." Mion said flatly. "Of course I'm going to worry you. There's _nothing_ more important to me right now than taking care of you." She stared at him, then blushed again, realizing what she just said. "I mean, because you're an important member of the club. Can't have much fun without you, right?" She laughed nervously.

He looked at her. "Mion..."

"What?" She looked at him expectantly. "What is it?"

"I... um... Listen, Mion. I really..." He never got to finish his sentence. Shion burst into the room, breathing hard.

"Sis?" Mion stood up suddenly. "Sis, what's wrong?"

Shion looked at her sister for a bit, then... "Onee, it's about Satoshi-kun!"

Mion's heart sank. "Is he...?"

"No!" She smiled wide. "He's okay! He's awake!"

Mion's eyes widened and she smiled happily. "That's great news, Shion!" The sisters hugged.

When they pulled away, Shion said, "Sis, you gotta come see him! He'll be so happy to see you."

"Oh, I'll bet Satoshi will be happy to see her." Keiichi grumbled, listening to the whole exchange.

Shion looked at Keiichi in surprise. "Well, I'm glad you're awake, Keii-chan! But I never expected to hear you be jealous like that." She teased.

Mion hit her sister. "Seriously, Shion! He's not jealous... Are you?"

Keiichi looked at his lap self-consciously. "Maybe. I don't know."

Mion smiled softly, allowing Keiichi to have a rare sight of the girly side of her. "Don't worry, Keiichi. I'll be right back for you." She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. Her lips left a tingling sensation behind.

Then she returned to her tomboy self. "Don't move from that bed, or I'll give you a bigger head injury, understand?""

"And I'll help her." Shion said sternly.

"Alright, just hurry up." He said. "I'm not a big fan of being in this room by myself."

"Not a problem, Keii-chan." Shion said. "Be back soon!"

Keiichi watched the girls as they left. Then, an impossible hope seemed to blossom in his heart. _Does... Does Mion like me back?_

He settled into the bed, ready to fall asleep...

Until a hand clamped over his mouth. Something pierced his leg and he screamed. The sound was stifled by the hand, however. He looked down and saw a knife in his leg.

The knife twisted in his leg, sending waves of agony through him. Something hit him really hard in the head. His head exploded in pain and the world ceased to exist for him.

* * *

Shion looked at her sister as they walked outside. "A kiss on the forehead, Onee?" She giggled. "How daring of you." She teased.

Mion blushed. "Well, weren't you the one that said I had to do more than what I was doing?" She smiled to herself. "Besides, you heard him last night. I don't think he minded it."

"No, I don't think he did." She smiled. "It's nice to see you acting like a girl for a change."

"Oh, I'll give you a change," Mion growled at her sister and rolled up one sleeve past her shoulder like she was going to punch her.

Shion laughed and ran ahead of her sister. "Come on, Onee! You're too slow!"

"And you're too damn cheerful right now!" But she smiled and ran to catch up to her sister.

On the way to the clinic, they ran into Satoko, Rena and the others.

"Mi-chan! Shion!" Rena said. "Where are you going?"

"Satoshi-kun woke up!" Shion called. "We're gonna go visit him and then go and see Keii-chan. Come with us!"

Mion frowned. "I only said I'd say hi. I told Keii-chan I'd be right back."

"Don't worry, your boyfriend can wait, Onee! Mine can't!" She continued running.

"Hold up, who said anything about him being your boyfriend!" She stopped. "Wait, what do you mean, 'your boyfriend?'"

"Nii-nii's awake...?" Satoko cried.

Shion just smiled.

* * *

Dr. Irei looked at the clipboard in front of him, flipping through its pages. When he looked up, he smiled.

"I'm surprised, Satoshi-kun! Your vitals seem to be in order, and the Syndrome seems to have subsided somewhat." He put his hands at his sides. "You have the all clear to leave, Satoshi. I'll see you next time!"

Irei bowed and left the room, giving the group of teenagers some much needed alone time.

"Nii-nii!" Satoko jumped on the bed and wrapped her arms around her brother. Tears of joy fell from her eyes as she embraced him.

"Geez, Satoko, let me breathe, okay?" He smiled as he sat up in bed. "It's so good to see you, though. Did you get taller?"

"Just a little bit." Shion winked at him. "She's also become a master trapper in her spare time, beating Keii-chan up all the time."

Satoko couldn't help but laugh. "But he's so easy to trap. He walks into every single one without thinking!"

Satoshi looked over at Mion. "By the way, it's good to see you, Mion! How have you been?"

She smiled. "Eh, about the same. Could be better. But, hey, I can handle it."

He frowned. "Shion told me about your friend Keiichi. And the accident."

Mion looked like he slapped her. "What about it?"

"From what I'm hearing, everyone is saying you're beating yourself up about it. But honestly, it sounds like there was nothing you could have done. You couldn't have known it was going to happen."

Mion looked at her feet. "I know, but still, I feel like-"

"Well, don't." Satoshi looked at her. "I'm pretty sure I'm right by guessing that Keiichi is saying the same things I am. Don't worry. If he's awake and well, then he'll be fine. And you don't need to blame yourself!"

She remembered what he said, grinning that sweet, confident grin of his. _Don't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look._

"He said..." She said. "He said that I had more important things than him to worry about."

"Well, I never said he was smart about how he said it." Satoshi said, grinning as he reached over to hold Shion's hand. "I mean, from what I'm hearing, you guys have it bad for each other. So, of course you're going to consider his health a top priority!"

Mion blushed. "Stupid Shion, can't keep your mouth shut, can you?"

Shion seemed to think for a second. "Hmmm.. Nope, not really." She smiled.

"So," Mion said. "You two are a thing, huh?"

"Yeah." Satoshi said. "I mean, where else am I gonna find a girl that will wait forever for me?" He smiled at Shion, who turned beet red and looked away. He responded to that by planting a kiss on her cheek, which she squirmed in delight and giggled.

"Satoshi-kun, don't!" She turned and looked at him. "You do it like this." She then leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

"Eeew, Shion-san!" Satoko jumped off the bed and looked away. Shion simply laughed as she and Satoshi parted.

"You see what I mean?" She told him.

"Oh, yeah." He cleared his throat. "I mean, yes ma'am. I'll be sure to remember that."

"You better." She said, poking him hard in the chest.

"Ow!" he yelped. "Shion, that hurts!"

"Good!" She poked him again.

"Ouch! Stop that!"

Mion smiled as she watched the two of them. She felt sadness though, and a pang of loneliness. _I want that... I want that to be me and Keii-chan._

"Oh, yeah." Rena looked at Mion. "Mii-chan. Rika-chan and the others need to tell you something." She looked serious.

"What happened?" Mion looked at Rika, who began to explain that someone had broken into their house last night. They didn't know who it was, and they never got to see the perpetrator. But what happened was they entered the house, and Satoko checked a little trap she rigged a while back to warn about intruders. She saw the wire was cut, and ran to tell Rika and Hanyuu. They then had heard a loud noise downstairs and saw that the front door had been left wide open.

"And I'm sure we had closed it when we came in." Hanyuu said.

"Wow, you guys." Satoshi said. "That's scary. Are you okay, though?"

"Yes, Satoshi." Rika said. "We wouldn't be here if we weren't fine, would we?" She smiled with a cute " _Niipah~"_

" _Hauuu~ So cute!_ " Rena whimpered. "I wanna take Rika-chan home with me right now!" She promptly picked her up and spun her around. Satoshi began to yell for Rena to calm down and put poor Rika down while the rest of them broke out into laughter.

"Well, I'm going back." Mion said when everyone calmed down. "Keii-chan's waiting on me. So, I'll be seeing you guys."

"Hold up, now!" Shion said. "We're coming too."

"Are you sure?" Mion said. "I mean, Satoshi-kun is finally awake. This is what you've been wishing for for ages!"

She squeezed his hand. "Yeah, I have been. And now it happened. And on top of that, my dream of being together with him came true." She looked her sister in the eye. "But Onee, I wouldn't be a good sister if I just left you by yourself, would I?" She winked at her.

"And I'd come too," Satoshi said. "But I doubt that I'd be able to walk after being stuck here for two years. Gimme a few weeks and maybe I can walk out the door to meet him. I'd like to meet the guy that Satoko considers to be like a big brother."

Satoko blushed. "Shion-san, you told him?!"

"Well, of course she did. I'm not mad, Satoko." He said. "I'm glad someone was there to take care of you in my place."

Satoko seemed to relax. "Okay, nii-nii..."

"Alright, everyone!" Mion said. "Keii-chan is waiting! Let's get moving while the day is still young!"

* * *

"Is he doing any better, though?" Rena asked as they walked to the hospital.

"He seems to be." Mion said. "He didn't remember anything that happened to him, and he doesn't remember anything after. He said his head hurt, but that's it."

"That's Keiichi-san for you!" Satoko said. "It'll take a lot more than something falling on his head to take him down!"

"Like you don't do that to him enough, Satoko." Hanyuu said pointedly.

Satoko became flustered and fumbled for a response while everyone else laughed.

Mion began to wander in her thoughts as they continued to walk.

She was very happy that Keiichi had gotten better, and his personality seemed unchanged. He still had that lively glint in his eye, that same crooked smile that made her heart twitch every time she saw it. And, furthermore, he seemed more inclined towards her. She still remembered how his hand felt on top of hers. She could feel his callouses, his pulse...

"Earth to Mion." Shion said. "Quit daydreaming, why don't you?"

Mion shook her head. "I'm sorry. A lot of stuff has happened lately, and I'm a bit ditzy."

"You also seem very different." Rena said. "I don't know what it is, Mii-chan, but you seem to be different."

"She's not being shy about Keiichi, now." Rika said, smiling.

"H-hey now!" Mion said, as the others now laughed at her expense.

"But, yeah, I guess you're right." She said aloud. "I'm not gonna play it safe, anymore. If I don't do anything now, I might lose him down the road."

"That's the spirit, Onee!" the younger girl cried, pumping her fist. The others smiled at Mion, who couldn't feel happier. Her friends supported her and wanted her to do well with Keiichi.

She smiled. "Okay, Sis, now you're the one who's too slow!" She ran ahead.

"Mion, slow down!"

* * *

What awaited them was anything but happiness. Police swarmed the halls leading to Keiichi's room. The group of friends couldn't help but feel somewhat uneasy at the sight of what was happening.

"Why are the police here?" Satoko asked.

"Maybe one of the patients got a little violent, I wonder, I wonder?" Rena said.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't need this many police for one patient." Shion said, a sinking feeling in her gut. "The hospital security would be enough to take care of something like that. This is bigger..."

They continued walking down the hall, until they turned the corner leading to Keiichi's room. The door to his room was wide open, and the police were gathered around it. Detective Oishi, Akasaka and Dr. Irei stood in front of the room talking. Dr. Irei saw the group walking forward, and walked forward.

"I honestly don't think you all need to see-"

"What happened?" Mion interrupted him. Her gaze was scalding hot, and Irei began to melt under their gaze, but he tried to maintain his composure.

"Mion, you can't go in there..."

"Yeah, right. What happened in there? Where's Keii-chan?"

"Mion-"

"Fuck this, I'm going in there." Mion said, pushing forward. Shion saw the familiar lines of worry being etched into her sister's face. She and the others followed her and they walked into the room, regretting it as they did so.

Blood stained sheets spilled off the bed and onto the floor. A policeman was currently taking pictures of the crime scene and the window that stood wide open. A light breeze filtered into the room, adding to the already cold chills running down Mion's spine.

Keiichi was no where to be seen.

"I knew I shouldn't have left him..." Mion said in a defeated voice.

Keiichi was gone.

"Oishi." she said.

The detective was by her side. "Yes, Ms. Sonozaki? How can I help you?"

"Do you have any idea what happened?" She said, trying not to sound like she was begging for information. Secretly, she was dying inside.

"Well, we got the call about half an hour ago." He said, pulling out his little notepad. "A nurse found the room this way, and called us in a panic. The only thing we found was this." He pulled a plastic bag from a folder and handed it to Shion, who gave it to Mion with a small gasp.

Inside the bag was a note. Mion gasped as she read it.

The note was simple, and got the point across.

First thing that was noticeable was the ink that was used. It clearly wasn't ink.

It was somebody's blood.

 _Mion-chan._

 _It's been too long since we've seen each other. And I want to pay you back kindly for what you did to me last year. So I'll make this quick._

 _You took something precious from me last year, so now I'll take something that is precious to you. The only way you can get him back, however, is if you trade something with me._

 _Rika-chan's for Maebara-kun. Simple as that. Hand her over to me, and I'll let Keiichi live. But if you don't, I hope you can deal with his blood on your hands. Which is probably already on your hands, considering I wrote this note with it._

 _You have until the festival to decide. I will be in touch. Don't turn on me. Keiichi's life depends on you._

 _Yours kindly, Miyo Takano_

Mion's hands began to shake. It was her. She was back. _And she wrote the note in Keii-chan's blood?_

"Onee?" Shion said.

"Mii-chan, what does it say?" Rena asked.

"Where's Keiichi-san? Where's Nii-nii at?" Satoko whimpered

It was all too much. Mion fell to her knees and cried in despair.

 _What am I going to do?_

* * *

 **Wow, two chapters in a day. I am on a freaking _roll_. I feel good.**

 **I just don't feel good about all the bad things Mion is about to go through. The blood doesn't stop flowing here.**

 **You guys are freaking unbelievable. It seems like every other chapter I post, we seem to break another milestone in regards to how many people are reading this. We're already nearing 300 reads in almost two weeks. You guys are insane. Thank you for the support. It means a lot. It really does.**

 **So, as always, favorite this story and follow it. It's getting really good. And while you're at it, why don't you add me to your favorite author's list? It further supports me and helps get my stories out to you guys quicker. IF you find the time to leave a review, do so! I love hearing from you guys.**

 **If you have any questions, PM me. If not, as always, I will see you wonderful people in the next chapter... called _Chapter 7_ _: Book of Sorrow, Part One._**

 **Until next time.**


	8. Book of Sorrow, Part One

**So, I'm happy to say that the story is halfway done. Shit is really starting to happen, and decisions are going to be made, and people are about to start dying.**

 **Graphic content is to be expected in the next couple of chapters, but to be honest, that's why yo watch the Higurashi series, isn't it? It's all about who's going to die, and who won't.**

 **Thank you for the mind-blowing support, you guys. So, here's the first of the Books...**

* * *

 **Chapter 7** **: Book of Sorrow, Part One**

Mion clutched the wrapped note in her hands, her body shaking with fury and fear.

 _How dare she?_ She thought. _How dare she take Keii-chan away from me! How can she ask a life for a life, when both are of equal importance to me!_

 _So you would sacrifice the life of the boy you love to save the life of a mere friend?_ A familiar voice echoed in her heart.

 _No... but if Rika dies, we all die..._ Mion thought.

 _So sacrifice him for the greater good!_ The voice continued. _I'm sure you can move on from him. Men like him are a dime a doz-_

 _No, they're not._ Mion realized sadly. _There's only one man like Keiichi Maebara, and that's Keiichi himself. There will never be another that can smile or laugh like he can. There's nobody that can move a crowd using only his words as easily as he can. There's only one of him in the world, and he's the only one for me..._

Rika stepped forward. "It's Takano, isn't it?"

Mion looked at Rika, not wanting to answer. Then, she began to do something that the others had only seen her do once before.

She forgot about silence, and began to sob loudly. Tears streamed down her face, and she bent over, holding the note close to her heart. She was being forced to choose which of two people she loved would die, and she didn't want to do it.

She just wanted to be happy for once. After all she and the others had done, didn't they deserve a little bit of happiness in return? So why... why did pain and sorrow follow her everywhere she went?

Rika didn't need an answer from Mion. She had already guessed. And she had a close idea of what would happen next. She looked at Shion.

Shion was wearing a very familiar mask of rage on her face. Her eye twitched as she watched her older sister being reduced to bitter tears before her. How dare they do this to her Onee... who did they think they were...

Inside her, something snapped.

Shion smiled. They had to pay. So, she would collect.

* * *

"Detective! And Akasaka, can you come in here, please?" Rika said, knowing she had to take action before Shion completely lost it and did something she would regret later. Like kill someone, and then go on a murder spree.

Just like before, in the world where Keiichi didn't give Mion the doll.

As the two adults entered the room, she asked Hanyuu to talk to them and try and figure something out. Then she summoned Dr. Irei and told him her request. He looked at her in surprise. "But why do you need him?"

She looked at Shion, who was clenching her fists as she knelt next to her sister.

"Just trust me, Irei." She said, all hints of girlhood vanishing from her voice. "If we don't get Satoshi here, some very bad things will happen. He's one of the only ones who can calm Shion. And Mii will need all the help she can get."

He looked at her, and seemed to understand. "I'll grab the wheelchair." He dashed off to perform the errand.

Rika walked over to Shion and put her hand on her back soothingly. "Shion. You need to calm down... I know you're upset-"

"You think I'm upset?" Shion said evenly, barely audible above her sister's wails. She looked at Rika, and Rika took a step back at the raw malice in the girl's eyes. "Look at her." She pointed at the elder Sonozaki

Rena and Satoko knelt next to their leader as well, trying to bring an end to her tears. But there was no stopping it. Mion had finally broken and forgot about being strong. She was showing her true self to her friends for the first time.

A girl who was scared of the world, and used charm, charisma and force to keep the world from caving in around her. A girl who was smitten with a boy who was once again lying at death's doorstep.

"Do you know, Rika," Shion said. "That I've only seen her cry twice before these past couple of days? She never cries. She doesn't let anything get to her. And now look at her. Whoever did this? They deserve to die in the worst possible way." Shion shook her head. "No, they deserve to suffer. Nice and slow in the dungeons beneath the Sonozaki estate. And I will make sure they feel every bit of her suffering." Her eyes glistened with murderous intent. "Every. Last. Drop.."

"I understand how you feel, Shion." Rika said. "But that doesn't mean-"

"You understand?" Shion grinned at the young girl. "How cute. You think you can understand. But you don't. That's my sister. _My twin sister_. Her suffering is mine. When one of us hurts, the other does." She narrowed her eyes at Rika. "If you want to try and understand, I'm sure I can help you with that." She took a menacing step towards Rika, then stopped.

She sighed. "On second thought, I can't do that. If I kill you, then everyone in the village will die as well. That's annoying, isn't it?"

Hanyuu put herself between Rika and Shion. "That's enough, Shion!" She said darkly. "We do not need a repeat of previous worlds."

For a second, Shion could swear that she saw Hanyuu's eyes flash a deep, dark red. But then they returned to normal, and images began flashing through Shion's mind.

 _Rika, knife in hand, facing off against her. Shion had a stun gun in hand and was intending to kill Rika in penance for her involvement with killing Satoshi._

 _Rika bracing the knife against the wall._

 _Rika piercing herself over and over with the knife._

 _Blood spraying everywhere. Blood flying and landing on Shion's body, face and clothing._

 _Giddiness rushing through her, and hearing her own maniacal laughter echoing at the sight of her friend killing herself in front of her._

 _Her, killing Satoko._

 _Her, killing Keiichi._

 _Her, killing her beloved sister Mion._

Shion's eyes widened, and she grabbed her head. She didn't remember it happening, but she remembered that it happened. She remembered doing the things, how the knife felt piercing Keiichi's stomach, seeing his blood spilling out.

She remembered stunning Mion and pushing her into the pit, leaving her to fall to her death.

She saw herself repeatedly stabbing Satoko, intending to solicit tears, but instead killing her. She remembered at the last moment how Satoshi's last words before his disappearance was to take care of Satoko in his absence. She remembered the grief and guilt she felt.

Shion fell to her knees. She felt so terrible. If Hanyuu hadn't brought up the memories somehow, she would've gone down the same path.

She looked at Mion, and felt an iron resolve form around her heart. Whatever happened, she was going to make sure Mion had no chance of going down that road. And the first step to get that done was...

She hugged her sister, and told her sister, "Look at me."

* * *

Mion heard her sister, and slowly turned her head to look at her. In her twin's eyes, she saw what she was most hoping to see.

She saw love, a powerful will, and hope.

"We're going to get him back." She said. "We won't have to give up Rika just to give him back."

"But, Shion..." Mion said. "She said not to turn on her or he'd..." She couldn't even say it.

"Since when have you listened and followed what people said, sis?" Shion smiled. "Come on, what happened to the tough, headstrong sister I know and love? Don't be going soft on me."

"Shion..."

"Your sister has a point." Akasaka said. "From what I hear, Keiichi has done a great deal for the people around him, so it doesn't seem fair to just hang him to dry when he needs us."

"Also," He looked sideways at Rika, who is smiling at him. "I'm not going to just hand Rika over, not after what she's done to help me. Thanks to her, my wife and daughter are alive today. So letting her die is not an option at all."

"The local police is behind you as well." Oishi said as well, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Of course, its because it's a confirmed kidnapping case, not to mention a ransom note was left behind, so that makes things more interesting." He pulled out his lighter, stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "But Maebara has done some things that have shown the people around here a different way of living. A way to see past all the hate and pain and look towards a better day." He smiled at Mion. "Your boy has even shown me the light once or twice."

Mion looked down

"I'll help out too." A voice called from outside the door.

Everyone looked out the door to see Satoshi being wheeled in by Dr. Irei.

"I got him here as fast as I could." Dr. Irei said. "Sorry I took so long, Rika." He smiled.

"Satoshi-kun, what are you doing here?!" Shion yelled, running over to him. "You should be resting right now!"

Satoshi waved his new girlfriend off. "I've been in that bed for two years. I needed a change of scene." He then looked at her with a serious look. "I came to help you out, Shion. I heard Keiichi got kidnapped by some bad people you knew. You guys are going to need all the help you can get."

"But, nii-nii, what can you do?" Mion asked.

"Well, I can help with planning his rescue, for starters." He said. "I can help with pretty much anything that requires some brain power."

"That's right." Rena said, standing. "I remember! Satoshi-kun was the only I ever knew that could easily hold his own against Mii-chan in a game of Risk!"

Satoshi chuckled, embarrassed and scratched the back of his neck It was a lot like what Keiichi did when he got embarrassed, Mion noticed.

"Hey, now!" Mion said. "I let him win those times, and I can handle the planning by myself!"

"But your judgment is going to be somewhat clouded." Akasaka interjected.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"What are you guys saying?" Mion said. "It's not like I'm handicapped in any way!" She looked over at Satoshi and winced. "No offense, Satoshi."

He grinned. "None taken."

"But you are handicapped, Mii." Rika said.

"How?" she said indignantly.

Oishi spoke up. "Mion, what is the first thing in your mind right now? Off the very top off your head, what is the one thing that keeps returning to the front of your mind?"

She stiffened, then looked at the floor. "If I'm being completely honest," She said, blushing a little bit. "It's the fact that Keiichi must be so scared and alone. I just wanna be there right now. I want to get him out. He's already hurt, and I can't help but wonder how Takano got the blood to write the note..." She looked pointedly at the bloodstained sheets. "I can't help but feel Keiichi is running on borrowed time."

"Exactly why you need help." Oishi said. "You care for Keiichi, so it's only natural to have him as your top priority. But your emotions can easily cloud your choices and decision making just as much as it can boost it. So that's why it'd help to have a second pair of eyes on the case. Not to mention the old adage, 'Two heads are better than one.'" He chuckled to himself.

Mion stood up, her face hidden by strands of hair falling in her face. Emotions played through her heart, and the dark voice tried speaking again, but this time she decided to take initiative and shut it up.

 _This is my show now. Get out. I don't need you playing like a broken record back there._

She looked at everyone in gratitude. "Okay, then. Let's take the fight to this bitch!"

Everyone cheered.

* * *

Keiichi felt heavy. He was slung over something that was moving at a moderate speed. His arms swayed back and forth with the motion, and his legs felt like somebody had inserted a white hot rod into his leg and was having fun moving it around and twisting it.

He opened his eyes and saw he was slung over the shoulder of a big man. With each footfall, Keiichi's head exploded with pain.

 _Where are we going?_ He wondered.

"You can take a break here, Kirei." a familiar voice said. "Set him there for five minutes while you sit down."

Keiichi's mind reeled in shock. What was _she_ doing here? He thought she was supposed to be locked up!

"I'm not tired, Ms. Takano." A low voice replied. "I can continue for a fair distance."

"Well," Takano replied. "Consider the fact that we have no idea where we are or where we are going, and we've never been this far into the woods in this area. It might be smart from a strategic viewpoint to stop for a minute and guess at our surroundings, don't you think?"

Kirei grunted, then Keiichi felt himself being lowered roughly to the ground. Kirei was not gentle by any stretch of the imagination, and Keiichi grunted in pain.

"Ahh, you're awake, Maebara-san!" Takano smiled, brushing blonde strands of hair from her eyes. "I'm so glad I got a chance to talk to you before everything started."

He grunted as he adjusted himself against a nearby tree stump. "What are you talking about?" He looked at his right, noticing a road in a clearing. He began to calculate his chances.

"I know everything is a bit sudden for you, Maebara-san." She continued. "But before you do anything rash, I must warn you that escape is not an option for you at the present. Kirei here is quite capable of ensuring a swift demise for you."

Kirei gave Keiichi a dead gaze, pulled a pistol from his pocket and held it across his lap, clicking off the safety.. His gaze never left, and Keiichi had to look away from him and look at the gun, which he promptly recognized.

It was a pistol his father owned. It was a Glock-17 9mm pistol, with 17 rounds of pure pain packed within its magazine. It had originally been designed in Austria, but had recently been distributed globally and was gaining some popularity. His father had been discussing the other day about how reliable it was.

He knew that if he was going to get away, he was going to need to get out of Kirei's line of sight and make a hard break for it. He had to commit to it. Only problem was, his leg was screaming in pain where Takano's knife had pierced him earlier. He wouldn't be able to make it very far in theory.

He had to bide his time, and wait for the perfect opportunity.

"Okay, then." Keiichi said, "So you guys got me. What now? Are you going to kill me?"

"No, we're not planning anything like that." Takano smiled. "At least, not yet. I'm still waiting to see what your dear girlfriend is going to do after she reads my note."

"My girlfriend?" He looked at her, then paled. "You mean Mion? No, she and I aren't anything like that. I swear."

"Oh, don't give me that crap." Takano said, pulling a photo from her jacket pocket and showing it to him.

As he peered at the photo, he realized what he was looking at and blushed hard. It was a photo of when Mion and him had almost kissed.

"So don't tell me you two aren't a thing." She said, putting the photo away. "It's clear as day to anyone who looks at you two."

"Well, I'm not lying when I say we aren't dating." He said softly. "And I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't want to date her. It's just that I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting with her."

"Are you kidding me?" Takano facepalmed. "I see you haven't gotten any smarter since I left. You can't see how crazy the girl is about you? You have her wrapped around your little finger, and you can't even see that."

"What are you talking about?" Keiichi said. "Mion is going to be the next head of the Sonozaki family. She could have her pick of anyone in the village. There are definitely better guys than myself for her to choose from. I don't have anything to offer her."

"Well, I can't say for myself why." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "But her heart chose you, and the heart wants what it wants. We don't choose who we fall in love with." She smiled. "And this chance of fate just happened to fall in my favor."

Keiichi's mind reeled. Mion liked him back?

He shook his head. He knew what Takano was playing at. She was trying to weaken him by distracting him from what was important.

"All that aside, what are you planning, Takano?" Keiichi said, trying to redirect the flow of the conversation. "I can assume you're not here to enjoy the cotton candy at the festival."

"No, I'm not sadly." She said. "But isn't it obvious? I have some unfinished business with this village. It denied my grandfather the right to becoming a god in his own right. He worked so hard to show the world about the parasites that are exclusive to this region, and everyone laughed at him. And when I tried to solidify his memory by killing the Furude girl to let the parasite run rampant, you and your group stood in my way every second! So, what is it that I want?"

She spread her arms wide. "I'm going to kill you, Mion, Shion, Rena, Satoko, and finally kill Rika Furude. I'm going to make you all suffer and then I'm going to drive this village to its knees. And then, I'll be the only one to survive. With Kirei to help me, I'll go to the press and tell them of the terrible news, how an entire village was driven to killing each other in sheer madness, and I am the only one who knows what happened. And then, then I will ascend with my grandfather and become a god." She smirked. "I will become Oyashiro-sama. This village's fate is held in my hands."

Keiichi looked at her and laughed. "Wow, you're crazier than I already thought you were. You actually think this is going to work, after you failed the first time?"

She began to scratch at her neck, this time drawing blood. "You have no idea how crazy I am. But it doesn't matter, I'm not going to fail this time."

He spat at her. "Geez, you need to get your ass in shape and leave while you have the chance."

Takano glared, then wiped the spittle from her face. She knelt in front of him, and smiled. "You stupid boy." She then grabbed his head and slammed it backwards into the tree.

Keiichi's eyes teared up and his head swam as he cried out in agony. He felt the wound on the back of his head reopen.

"You should recognize the fact that being silent at the right moment is a point of maturity." she said. "For that bit of insolence, I'm going to make sure that Mion suffers a great deal more and she's gonna know who to thank for that."

Keiichi still swam in pain, but when he heard what she threatened against Mion, he felt something snap in his head and rage surged through him, giving him the strength he needed to push back.

"You touch a single strand of her hair," Keiichi growled. "And I'll kill you. I swear to god I'm going to kill you." He had never felt such a protective impulse before, but even the very thought of Mion being in pain drove him off the edge. He would never let her get hurt, he vowed, for as long as he drew breath.

"That's what I like to hear." Takano said, holding out her hand to Kirei. He understood and handed her the Glock. "I'll see you when you wake up."

She then smashed the butt of the gun into his head, knocking him out once again.

* * *

Mion felt a sudden pain in her temple. It came from out of nowhere, and it staggered her. She stretched out a hand to support her against the wall. She felt dizzy, as if something had struck her with an incredible force. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. _What was that?_

"Mii-chan?" Rena's voice came from behind her. Mion turned her head and saw the chestnut-haired girl looking at her, wide-eyed with concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Rena." She smiled at her. "Just got a bit dizzy, is all."

Rena looked at her for a second, then she smiled. "Okay, Mii-chan. We're setting up the futons for the girls upstairs, and the boys are staying downstairs. You wanna help us, you wanna?"

They were at Rika and Satoko's house. Everyone including Satoshi and Akasaka were going to spend the night, just in case Takano decided to make another move. So Satoshi figured strength in numbers was the best move here, and Mion had to agree. If they left each other alone, it would be easy for Takano to pick them off one by one.

"Sure," Mion said, then she smirked. "Although, I doubt Shion and Satoshi are going to stay apart for very long."

Rena sighed and held up her hands in defeat. "True. Knowing Shion, she's gonna make sure Satoshi-kun is sleeping nice and soundly, and end up sleeping with him." She shook her head, and blushed a deep red as if the thought of the two teenagers embarrassed her.

Mion smiled, then she got sad. She imagined Keiichi, scared, cold, and alone in whatever god-forsaken hole Miyo Takano had shoved him in. The boy that had protected everyone as best he could, now was unable to protect himself.

 _You protected me, Keii-chan._ She thought fiercely. _Now I'm going to protect_ you _. No matter what. After all you've done for us, and for Satoko, and for me, you deserve to be happy._

She began to tear up, and Rena seemed to notice, because she promptly hugged her. "We're going to save him, Mii-chan. Don't worry about it."

Mion shook her head. "I feel like such a wimp, I've been doing nothing but crying like an idiot for a bit."

"It's because you love Keiichi-kun."

Mion looked at Rena in surprise. "What did you say?"

"I said you love him." She smiled as she pulled away. "Like Oishi said. You wouldn't be crying and worrying like you are if you didn't." She put her hands behind her back and smiled cutely. "Keiichi-kun is really lucky to have someone like you caring for him."

"But, wait, Rena." She said. "Don't you like Keii-chan, too?"

Now it was Rena's turn to be surprised. "You're asking if Rena has a crush on Keiichi-kun?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Maybe at one point I did, but not anymore. Not anymore. I see him as a sort of big brother, even if we are around the same age. So yes, I do love him. But not in the same way you love him."

She smiled, then turned away. "Come, Mii-chan. It's going to be a long night. We need to get our beds ready!"

She turned and ran off down the hallway leading to the main room. Mion smiled and followed her.

However, despite their hopes and dreams, nobody slept well that night. As predicted, Shion and Satoshi were found cuddled together on the same futon, holding each other tight, as if they were afraid the other would vanish if they let go. Satoko sat up all night, worrying vocally about Keiichi, saying "he's my nii-nii, too... I can't lose him too..." And Mion hugged her, all the while the image of a terrified and tortured Keiichi ran through her mind, and she imagined him screaming.

Rika and Hanyuu assumed their usual positions around the windowsill. Both of them sipping white grape juice.

Hanyuu looked at Rika, and they seemed to agree silently on something.

Whatever happened next, it was not going to end well. Death was on the horizon, and it was calling someone's name.

* * *

Cold water splashed in Keiichi's face, waking him roughly. He gasped from the sudden shock, severely disoriented. He looked around. He was in a small cabin, lightly furnished and dimly lit by candlelight. He seemed to be upright, but he wasn't standing up.

He felt pain in his hands and feet, and looked at his limbs to see a terrifying truth.

Numerous jagged, rusty nails protruded from his hands and feet, nailing him to the wall. Blood trickled from the wounds, painting the wall behind him a bright, wet crimson. He tried to move, but pain screamed at him from his limbs, telling him that it was not the best idea.

Panic began to consume him, his mind raced and his heart pounded in his chest. His breathing increased, and he began to feel sick to his stomach. He threw up, causing his body to scream from the sudden, tugging movement.

"Ah, Maebara-san!" Takano grinned, gazing deeply in his eyes. She stood in front of him, albeit at a safe distance from the puke. "I was hoping that would wake you up. I was surprised that the crucifixion itself didn't wake you."

"What's going on?" He said. "What are you doing to me?"

She grinned, an expression of utter madness enveloping her beautiful features. "I'm going to have some fun, Maebara-san. Why else would I wake you up?" She leaned in and whispered in his ear, her hot breath sending cold shivers down his spine.

"I wanted to hear your screams for myself."

She stood back further, and saw that she was brandishing a cat-o-nine-tails, a brutal whip. She smiled, and flicked her wrist. He flinched, and a line of white fire opened over his right eye. He screamed, his voice tearing at his throat.

She grinned. "That's what I like to hear, Keiichi. Now, give me more."

She drew her arm back, and lashed at his chest in a x-pattern, tearing his shirt open and splitting the skin beneath. Blood sprayed from his chest, landing on Takano. It gave her the appearance of a blood-soaked demon, which was further solidified by her increasingly hysterical howls of laughter as she relished in his suffering. Keiichi arched his back, and couldn't stop the high pitched sounds of agony escaping him. He began to sob, praying for the pain to stop.

But it didn't. It just kept going.

And it only got worse.

She just wouldn't let him die. She intended to do this for as long as she could.

* * *

 **Thank you guys for reading, it means a lot to me that you guys are enjoying the story. If you want, I recently created a poll on my profile, asking for your opinion on the story. All you have to do is go to my profile and vote in the poll. I'll leave it open for about a week, then I'll take it down.**

 **And also, I'm sorry for the cliffhanger... But at the same time I'm not sorry. Because I love making you guys squirm in anticipation... hehe, yeah I know, I'm evil.**

 **As always, thanks for the support. Leave a review if you have the time to, I read them all. Favorite this story or follow it, if you can. And also follow me or add me to your favorite author's lists, as it'll notify you as soon as I post another chapter to the story and you can read it sooner.**

 **Thank you, you wonderful people, and I will see you all in the next chapter, _Chapter 8_ _: Book of Sorrow, Part Two._**

 **Until next time.**


	9. Book of Sorrow, Part Two

**Hey, everyone! Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I think you guys really are, considering I can't even use my stat section anymore... It's literally glitching out and bleeds across the screen anytime I try and view it. Not joking or exaggerating. But last I checked, I'd gotten over 200 reads in the previous 72 hours...**

… **Holy crap. You guys are amazing. All I need is a girlfriend and I'll be forever happy! Like that's gonna happen... _#foreveralone_**

 **Anyways, I'm ready to get started on part two of this section of the story, and I hope you guys are ready for it as well. It's going to be _bloody_ exciting... Leave a favorite or follow the story to show me your support. Because, even if you guys are reading this consistently, seeing those numbers really helps bolster my resolve and motivates me like you wouldn't believe.**

 **Enjoy the second of the Books!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8** **: Book of Sorrow, Part Two**

Keiichi wanted to wake slowly, but his body screamed at him, crushing that dream. As he woke, he noticed that, like the last fifteen times he had woken, he was still nailed to the wall. His body and his clothes were crusted with blood, making it difficult to move. He felt light headed, and his body felt as if it were on fire.

Takano had been merciless towards him. She made the torture methods the Sonozaki's used seem like child's play. Probably from the sole fact that she seemed to be enjoying it.

Before he passed out last time, she had taken a stance away from him and had thrown knife after knife, each one piercing his flesh over and over. And when she'd run out of knives, she'd walk up and roughly pull each knife from his body, eliciting moans from her captive. She grinned madly, and proceeded to repeat the process all over again.

And, the bad thing was, Takano would actually tend to his wounds. The same blades she used to pierce him she used to cauterize his wounds. She enjoyed hearing his screams when she tortured, and she enjoyed hearing his screams as she healed him.

He looked down at his body, which was so full of cuts and bruises that Keiichi was surprised that he was actually still alive. But, if he had to be honest, if he survived this, he was going to be so scarred that it'd be a miracle if anyone would look at him without being repulsed by him.

He sighed sadly. But, a life like that was better than having no life at all.

He looked over at where Takano lay now, sprawled out asleep on the couch next to him. She seemed so innocent in her sleep, but she was a demon when woken, sadistic and with an unquenchable thirst.

Keiichi leaned his head against the wall behind him, sighing in relief at the opportunity for a momentary reprieve. He wondered where Mion was now, and if she was safe. Knowing her, she would probably be with Shion and one of their friends at least. She, along with Satoko, would be worrying their heads off about him. He closed his eyes. He wondered if what Takano had said earlier was true.

Did Mion really love him? He silently chuckled to himself. What a waste. He'd meant what he'd said earlier. He felt like he had nothing to offer her.

Maybe she only loved him because he was the only one that was available? That'd be just his luck.

Keiichi had fallen in love with her over a period of time. He honestly didn't know when it started. Maybe it was around the time of the tournament at her uncle's toy shop. She'd seemed so amazing that day, and she seemed to be really enjoying herself as she and Keiichi competed for first place. Maybe that's why he'd given the doll to her and not Rena. Because, subconsciously, he knew he was developing feelings for her and was hoping she'd feel the same way.

He wanted for her to be happy. He didn't think she'd be happy with him, going from living the luxurious life she lived in a powerful family to a mediocre, everyday-man's life.

He groaned. It was so confusing. He wanted to be with her, in fact he'd like nothing more. He'd spoil the hell out of her, and would do her best to make her happy.

He could've done so much more, he should've told her when he'd had the chance in the hospital room. They could've been happy, if only for a short time...

An image of her smiling face flashed through his mind, and he suddenly realized what had to happen. He knew what he would do.

He was going to be at her side for as long as she would allow him. Even if she really did feel nothing for him, he was going to make damn sure she was as happy as was humanly possible. The others were depending on him as well. Satoko was probably losing her mind after losing Keiichi.

He had to get out of there.

Keiichi looked over at Takano's sleeping form and made sure she was deep asleep. Then, he braced himself for what he was about to do. He had to be quick, or it would never get done. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and yanked his hand away from the wall.

He resisted the urge to scream, and his eyes bulged as his hand tore itself off the nail. It felt as if his hand was on fire, and that feeling spread through to his arm, but he didn't care. He was free.

Now for the other arm...

A loud bang resounded in the small room, nearly blowing out Keiichi's eardrums. At the same time, a piercing pain greeted him in his right leg. Keiichi did scream this time, he screamed so hard his voice rattled.

"Who said anything about you leaving, you sneaky boy?" Takano said. She walked in front of him. She was holding a pistol of her own, a Colt M1911. "Can't have you spilling all my secrets, can I?" She pointed the gun at Keiichi again, and pulled the trigger three more times.

The pain was intense, and Keiichi almost blacked out again. He looked down through bleary eyes and saw his right leg was a bloody mess. He doubted it would work properly ever again.

"Try and leave again," Takano said, "And the bullets will hit you higher than this time. I won't be able to guarantee that they won't hit anything important."

She grinned, and grabbed a blade and held it next to a candle for a while, waiting for the tip to turn white-hot before placing it against Keiichi's new injuries. Keiichi bellowed, the pain translating into noise. His skin burned, tears poured down the sides of his fate, and he wondered how he'd even begun to think that escape was an option.

This was it... The end of the line. He was going to die here. This was Hell.

"Now, that you've woken me up, Maebara-kun," Takano crooned. "Why don't we do something about those fingernails of yours?" She smiled as she pulled something very familiar from the table next to Keiichi. A contraption that Mion had once shown him a very long time ago beneath the Sonozaki estate.

Keiichi screamed in terror as she slipped the first of his fingers inside the contraption, and slammed her hand on the lever.

He begged for death.

* * *

 _ **Two Days Later...**_

 _ **"Keiichi!"**_ Mion sat up abruptly, her hand reaching forward as she woke from the nightmare she was having.

Sunlight streamed from the window next to her, and she felt a chill run through her. She'd seen Keiichi in her dreams. She'd dreamed that she'd found him lying in the middle of the forest, broken and very, very dead.

As she looked around the room, she realized with a sigh of relief that it had been a dream.

At least, for now it was. She was pretty sure if they wasted anymore time, it'd become a reality.

Shion burst in the room. "Onee, are you okay?"

Mion smiled sadly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream is all."

Shion knelt next to her sister. "Sis, you're soaked with sweat! It must've been one hell of a dream." She tilted her head to the said and tentatively asked, "What did you see?"

Mion simply toyed with her sheets for a moment before replying. "I dreamed... he was dead." Mion looked at her sister. "I found him in the forest, Shion, and Takano had killed him."

Shion smiled sympathetically at her big sister. "If it helps any, I had the same dreams after Satoshi-kun disappeared. Your heart is coping with the loss and your mind is making up stories from all the possibilities of what's happening." She chuckled. "Not very fun, is it?"

Mion grinned. "What do you think, Shion?"

"Come on, Onee." Shion stood up and offered her hand to Mion. "Everyone is waiting on you, it's almost lunchtime."

Mion looked at Shion funny as she stood to get changed into her day clothes. "Lunchtime? I just woke up!"

"Yeah, you slept in, Onee." She pointed at the clock. It was 11:05.

Mion turned red. "Stupid Shion! Why didn't you wake me up?! Now everyone's gonna have a bad impression of me!" She punched her sister in the shoulder, who laughed and backed up.

"I think it's understandable, on everyone's part. I mean, I only woke up about a half hour ago."

"Satoshi didn't wake you?" Mion asked as she wrapped her favorite sweater around her waist.

Shion frowned. "No, he didn't, the jerk." Mion couldn't help but laugh.

The two sisters descended the stairs expecting to see the other girls bustling around the dinner table. Instead they walked into the room just in time to see Detective Oishi and Akasaka rushing in, escorted by Hanyuu, all of whom were out of breath.

"They think they found Keiichi!" Hanyuu cried loudly.

Mion's eyes shot up. "They did what?"

* * *

"According to the call logs, Maebara should be over here" Oishi said, pulling out a map of the region and pointing. "The old couple that put in the emergency call said that they were hiking late last night, and they heard gunshots and screams coming from an old cabin. They claim it's over in this area of the woods."

"Now," Akasaka interjected. "We don't know if Takano has an accomplice or if she's acting alone. So, we're going in with a fairly armed group of officers to scout out the location and, if necessary, find and extract Keiichi, and get him to safety. Oishi will lead a forward group to scout out the deeper regions of the area, while I will lead a second, smaller squad to try and provide support, if necessary."

"Sounds about fair," Satoshi commented. "But what about communication? Worst case scenarios?"

"We'll communicate via two-way radios." Akasaka responded evenly. "And if the worst comes to pass, if we find Keiichi, we'll have him escorted from the first group to the second and extract him from there."

"But what if something happens to him?" Mion said. "What are you going to do then?"

"We'll have a specially trained medic with us." Oishi grunted. "I wouldn't put it past that crazy lady to take some of her aggression out on that poor boy. So we'll have the medic provide first aid upon arrival, and then he can tell us the best way to get him out of here." He smiled confidently. "I have a good feeling about this search party. Not like the last couple one's we've had."

Mion nodded. She'd lead several of the searches herself. "I hope we find him this time."

Rika looked at her. "I hope so, too. The festival is Sunday. It's Thursday now."

The mood turned melancholy.

"I can turn myself in, Mii." Rika said. "It'll give you Keiichi, and you can focus on finding me by following her footsteps afterwards."

"Not an option," Mion said firmly. "I appreciate what you're willing to do for Keii-chan, but I can't trade a life for a life. I just can't do it."

"You shouldn't have to make that choice, Mi-chan." Rena said sympathetically.

"Nobody should ever have to make that choice." Satoshi added. "It's unthinkable. A life is a life, no matter how you look at it. I mean, how can you measure one against another? Every life is important to a certain extent. We all have someone or something that could fail if we pass on." He looked from Mion to Shion, as if he wanted to add something, then decided not to say anything.

"You and Keii-chan really are alike." Shion said, wrapping her arms around him affectionately. "Although you aren't quite as gifted with your words as he is."

Mion chuckled. "He had the audacity to argue with Ba-chan before, when we were trying to get her support to save Satoko from her uncle. He even threatened her."

Satoshi paled, remembering the scary head of the Sonozaki family. "And he actually lived?"

"And came out on top." Shion smiled. "He's pretty amazing, isn't he?"

Satoshi swallowed hard. "It's kinda hard to believe."

"Hey, now." Mion said, leering at her sister. "You got Satoshi all to yourself, don't be hogging my Keii-chan too!"

"Ohh?" Shion narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Now he's 'yours?'"

"You know what I mean!" Mion said, looking away, slightly blushing.

"Ohh, you bet I do, Onee." Shion released her boyfriend and walked over to her sister. She poked her sister lightly. "You two are gonna need some _private time_ together when he gets back, if you know what I mean..."

"Shut up, Shion!"

Everyone laughed at the teen's embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Oishi cleared his throat.

"If you lovely girls are done playing around with your hormones, maybe we can focus on something important, like saving this poor boy's life?"

The twins blushed hard, and apologized profusely.

"Anyways, we're leaving in about two hours." Oishi continued. "I'd appreciate it if you girls waited here until we give you a call." He looked at Shion. "Can you call your bodyguard to come take care of you girls? I know it's a long shot, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Shion nodded. "I can give Kasai a call. Give me a moment." She ran into the other room to make the call.

"If we find him, Mion," Akasaka said, giving her an understanding look. "You'll be one of the first to know. I promise."

Mion looked him in the eye and very bluntly said, "Just bring him back to me."

Akasaka nodded. "Will do."

* * *

" ** _Bravo team, come in."_** The walkie talkie at Oishi's waist buzzed to life. Oishi slipped his handgun into its holster and lifted the radio to his mouth.

"Bravo team, here. Oishi, speaking."

 ** _"Oishi, Akasaka here. Did you guys get into position yet?"_ **

"We're ready to start when you guys are. Although, I have to say, I have a feeling that we're getting pretty close to finding Maebara."

 _ **"What makes you say that? You have intel?"**_ Akasaka asked eagerly.

Oishi looked at the tree stump in front of him. The blood spatter stared grimly back. "Yeah, but it's not the good type of intel. We need to hurry up."

 _ **"Shit. Well, time to shut up and crack down on the search."**_ The walkie talkie buzzed, signaling the end of the communication. In the distance, Oishi could hear men shouting, and cheers rising. Charlie team was getting pumped up to find Keiichi. He couldn't help but smile.

"Sir?" a voice behind Oishi called out. He turned around to see a young sergeant by the name of Akira looking curiously at him.

"Yes, Sergeant?"

The young officer pointed at the detective's chest. "Your right strap is coming undone, sir."

Oishi looked at his shoulder and noticed that, indeed, the strap on his Kevlar vest had come undone.

He laughed as he fixed his vest. "This thing is almost as old as I am." He said. "Good thing you noticed it. It could've come off at the worst time!"

"If I may ask a question, Detective?" Akira asked. "Why do you have the vest on? We don't even know if there will be any combatives in the area."

The detective gave the young police officer a long stare. "You can never be too careful, son. I always take this with me if I think I might be in any danger."

The young officer nodded thoughtfully, then returned to his spot to continue the search.

Oishi looked up at the sky and said a prayer to any god that would listen. _Please let us find him. Please let him be okay._

* * *

Keiichi winced as Takano drew her razor blade across the flesh of his skin. She had the idea of giving him what she called a blood tattoo. She traced the outline of stars along his arm, from the middle of his forearm and vanishing into his wrist. After each individual star finished, she'd cauterize it the design and move on to the next one. Keiichi had gone beyond screaming now, and was simply finding any way he could to fight back. As of right now, he was fighting to keep from showing any sign of pain.

He didn't want to give Takano the satisfaction.

She finished the last star, and sighed. "Isn't that so nice looking, Maebara-kun? I'm sure it's going to be absolutely amazing when it scars over..."

He just scowled at her. But, in all honesty, he could barely hold his head up. His mind was clouded, and he couldn't even think. Lethargy swept over him in deep waves. But he successfully maintained his facade.

She frowned. "Such hostility. Oh well." She cleaned up her 'work area,' and looked at him. "I'm going to head out for some food, dear. I want to see you still hanging when I return, or I'll let you hear your dear Mion's screams firsthand." She changed into some clean clothes out of his sight, then left the cabin.

Keiichi sighed in relief, then began to sob.

 _Why won't she just let me die?_

* * *

Oishi looked at the cabin before him. Akira just happened to be the one who found it, and motioned for Oishi to see it.

It was old and unassuming, about the size of an old shack. But it seemed somewhat lived in. The dirt in front of the door was freshly disturbed.

"Good work, Akira." Oishi said, then reached for the radio at his waist, but quickly dropped to his stomach as the door to the cabin opened suddenly.

" _Get down, you damn fool!"_ Oishi hissed, dragging the young officer down with him.

A blonde woman exited the building, turning her back to the men in order to lock the door. As she turned around, Oishi immediately recognized her.

 _Miyo Takano_.

"Damn good job, Akira." Oishi whispered to the man beside him. "This is it, we found them."

"That's the suspect?" Akira said, surprised. Oishi nodded.

"She seems so innocent."

"Trust me, she's no angel." Oishi said. "Go, take Liam with you and tail her. If you see an opportunity to arrest her, do so, but don't hesitate to take her out if she turns violent."

Akira nodded silently, then grabbed the officer next to him and hurried after Takano after she'd reached an appropriate distance. Then Oishi thumbed the button on his radio.

"Charlie team, come in." Oishi said.

 _ **"Charlie Team here, Akasaka speaking."**_ The man's voice filtered out from the device.

"Akasaka, I think we found where they're keeping Maebara." Oishi said hurriedly. "This is it."

 _ **"Really?! How do you know?"**_ Akasaka replied excitedly.

"I just saw Miyo Takano leave the cabin." He said curtly. "There's no other possibility. Head down the hill from earlier, and one of my guys will meet you. I'm thinking we'll need some back up."

 _ **"Roger that. Be there in a moment."**_ The radio clicked off.

He returned the radio to his waist, and motioned for the officers next to him to follow him. They moved forward towards the entrance of the cabin, ready to breach. After nodding to the officer to his right, he kicked the door in.

And immediately felt his heart drop.

Keiichi had been reduced to a bloodied body on the wall, nailed in place by 7 nails in various places. His head hung low, and Oishi almost sobbed at how the cheerful boy had been reduced to such a terrible state.

"Maebara," Oishi said gently as he approached the boy. "Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Keiichi slowly lifted his head and grinned weakly at him. "I'm feeling... just peachy... I don't look that bad, do I?" He weakly said before his head dropped again.

"We're gonna get you out of here, son." Oishi said, searching for anything to help pry the nails from the wall, and his body. "We're gonna help you." The medic moved forward to begin checking Keiichi.

"Is she... pissed... at me?" he asked the medic.

"What?" the man asked.

Oishi chuckled. "He means Mion. And yeah, she's pissed. Just not at you."

He laughed softly. "I... thought so. She's still... gonna... give me... one hell of a lecture... regardless."

Oishi shrugged. "That's just how women are, son. If they get upset, they somehow earn the right to lecture. But that's enough talking. Let the good doctor look at you."

"I can already tell you it's not good." The medic said. "He needs help right away. We need to leave now."

Oishi nodded, finally finding a large hammer. "Sorry, son. This is gonna hurt."

He began prying the nails from Keiichi's body, who couldn't help but scream in agony as the wound reopened. Blood began to trickle out from his body, but the medic was there to quickly help staunch the bleeding.

"You're a lot better... than she was..." Keiichi said before finally passing out.

"Shit, it's worse than I thought." Oishi said as he reached for the radio at his waist, and thumbed the button.

"Charlie team come in," Oishi said. "We've secured the package, ready for extract."

 _ **"You found him? Is he okay?"**_ The line echoed.

Oishi looked over at Keiichi. "Depends on your definition of okay. It looks like hell spat him out. The doc says he needs immediate attention."

 _ **"I'm on my way down. Our medic over here can take over while I'm away."**_ He responded.

"Akasaka, are you nuts? Your guys need you up there."

 _ **"Cloud, I made a promise to Mion that I would bring him back."**_ Akasaka replied firmly. _**"You know how I am with this stuff. I don't back down easy. My group will be fine. I'm coming down there to personally help escort Keiichi back. End of discussion. See you in a sec."**_

The line clicked closed, and Oishi swore. The guy had his heart in the right place, but he was still stubborn as hell. But, that couldn't be helped now.

"Alright," Oishi said to his team. "We need to get Maebara up the hill and to Charlie team. Akasaka will meet us halfway up. Understood?"

The team started to respond, but they stopped when a twig snapped outside.

"We're all here, right?" one officer said.

"Yeah," another said.

"That wasn't one of us." Oishi said softly. "We need to get moving now." He pushed the medic and Keiichi out the door as fast as possible, and urged the rest of the team to do the same.

They cleared the first set of trees just as one of the officers helping spun away, trailing blood behind him. Oishi began rushing everyone to run, pushing Keiichi's head down.

 _ **"Oishi! What the hell was that?"**_ the radio at his side chirped.

"Shots fired!" He yelled into the mike. "Man down! I repeat, shots fired, man down!"

Another bullet slammed into Oishi, but his vest stopped the bullet, allowing him to push Keiichi and his team into a second clearing.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the rescue group, Mion and Shion's father had loaned Kasai his police scanner. Kasai now sat with Keiichi's friends at Rika's house around the table, with the radio in the center, playing the scene out before them.

"I hope they find him this time." Mion said sadly. Her shoulders drooped as she listened to the teams communicate, with no sign that they'd found Keiichi.

"You know we'll find him, Onee." Shion said, hugging her sister. But she couldn't help but tear up a bit at seeing her sister so upset. Satoshi, being the good guy he was, felt his girlfriend's distress and tightly held her hand. She smiled at him in gratitude, then looked back to the radio, just in time to hear Oishi mention that they'd found the cabin, and that they'd spotted Takano leaving.

Everyone held their breath as Oishi breached the building. Several moments of silence followed, until the silence was so unbearable Mion wanted to scream.

Finally...

 _ **"Charlie team come in. We've secured the package, ready for extract."**_

Everyone cheered. Rena grabbed both Rika and Hanyuu and gave them the biggest hug ever, and for once they didn't mind it. Satoko teared up a bit before getting swept up by Rena as well.

Satoshi hooted and grabbed Shion from behind in his excitement. She giggled and only broke his embrace to hug her sister who was crying tears of joy. Even Kasai seemed to relax, if only the tiniest bit.

The feed continued.

 _ **"You found him? Is he okay?"**_

 _ **"Depends on your definition of okay. It looks like hell spat him out. The doc says he needs immediate attention."**_

 _ **"I'm on my way down. Our medic here can take over while I'm away."**_

Mion could only imagine what Keiichi could look like, and it just caused her to get angrier and angrier. She balled her fists so hard they shook.

"I'm going to kill Takano."Mion said firmly. "Make no mistake, I will kill her for what she did to Keii-chan."

"And I'll gladly help you," Kasai rumbled. "But, don't you think the priority is to bring him home first?"

Mion understood what Kasai was saying, and relaxed. But it wasn't to last.

 _ **"Oishi! What the hell was that?"**_

 _ **"Shots fired! Man down! I repeat, shots fired, man down!"**_

As those last words were spoken a loud bang was heard over the radio, followed by Oishi grunting in pain.

 _ **"Oishi! Come in, dammit. Come in!"**_

 _ **"Just get your ass down here NOW, Akasaka!"**_

The line went silent. Shion had her hands covering her mouth, mirroring the looks of despair of everyone around the room.

"Keii-chan?" Mion said tentatively. "Don't you dare die on me. I will never forgive you if you do."

"Better start praying." Satoshi said to everyone.

Hanyuu began to whimper.

* * *

Akasaka reached Oishi's group just in time to see another man go down, blood and brain spraying from his head. He looked down the hill and saw a man running after them with only what looked like a simple handgun.

" _Shit_ ," Akasaka thought. " _This just got a lot more interesting._ "

"Get him over here, Oishi!" Akasaka called in a panic. "He's right behind you!"

Oishi didn't even have to ask who. Just then, another member of Oishi's group went down, the one directly behind Keiichi.

Keiichi's eyes widened slightly as he felt the man die behind him. He shut his eyes tightly, screaming inside. _Why is this happening? Why, why, why me! God, please get me out of here!_

"Keep it up, Keiichi!" Akasaka yelled, hiding behind a tree as cover. "You're almost there! We got this!'

"You guys got this." Oishi said, standing back. "I'm gonna keep ol' boy behind us occupied for a bit."

Akasaka stared in shock. "Do you have a death wish, old man?"

Oishi chuckled. "Somewhat. It was time for me to retire anyways." He grabbed Akasaka by the collar. "Get him home. You understand? If I don't make it and he dies? You can be damn sure I'll haunt your ass forever." He chuckled. "Not to mention a certain Sonozaki will make your life in the village a living hell."

Akasaka smiled grimly, then ordered his men and Oishi's ahead, helping support Keiichi as they ascended the hill to where Charlie team and a van were waiting.

* * *

After watching them go, Oishi sighed. Then turned around to face the man who he knew was standing behind him with a gun pointed at his head.

"So this is Oishi Kuraudo, eh?" the man said, pressing the cold steel against Oishi's temple. "The man feared in Tokyo as being undefeated by any who opposed him, to the point of where he never even has to draw his gun?" He scoffed. "What a joke."

"Eh, must be the charm." Oishi smiled. "I still got it after all these years. Speaking of which, before you kill me, tell me something."

The man looked at Oishi strangely.

"Come on now, cure an old man of his curiosity." Oishi pushed.

The man raised an eyebrow, but beckoned for the detective to continue.

"Why would you help Miyo Takano? What is she to you, to drive you to kidnap and kill these people?"

"Simple." The man said. "She pays me."

 _Damn._ The detective sighed. _I was hoping to get something more profound from him. That just sucks._

 _Keep fighting, everyone. Don't let this old man drag you behind anymore._ Oishi sighed, closed his eyes, and resigned himself to his fate.

 **BANG.**

* * *

Everyone around the table held their breath as they waited for the radio to chirp again. Shion rested her head against Satoshi's lap, Mion hugged her knees to her chest, Rika and Hanyuu sat in companionable silence, and Satoko held her big brother's hand tightly.

But nothing came from the radio. Instead, the house phone rang. Rika stood up and ran to answer it.

"Hello, Furude residence." She was silent for a second. "Akasaka! Thank goodness you're alright. Did you get Keiichi?"

She was quiet for a second as Akasaka continued talking on the other line. Emotions played across her face. Relief, followed by horror, then surprise, then grief. She nodded. "I understand. I'll tell her. Just keep praying, Akasaka. That's all you can do."

She hung up, and looked at Mion. "Akasaka said for you to get to the hospital as quick as you can, Mii."

Mion stood, as did Kasai. "But, why just me? Why not everyone else?"

"Because Keiichi asked for you, repeatedly." Rika said.

Mion's heart fluttered for a second. But Rika wasn't done yet.

"That is," She said. "right before his heart stopped."

* * *

 **Yeah, I know. I'm a jerk with these cliffhangers. But this wasn't even planned to be a cliffhanger ending. I honestly meant to end it on a happy note, but the characters started telling me a different story from what I saw, and I had to roll with it. Poor Oishi told me he had to die, and that broke my heart. I honestly liked him as a character.**

 **Hopefully you guys enjoy reading this chapter! I'm starting to really enjoy writing these last few chapters. And it's making it worthwhile that you guys are blowing up my stat sheets when I check the views. Thank you guys so much. I hope I won't disappoint you all in the future.**

 **Please favorite this story and/or follow it! And add me to your author's lists, so the notifications will pop up when I post a new chapter.**

 **And also, regarding further review, please do not post chapter spoilers. There's a lot of people reading and I want everyone to be able to fully enjoy the story. Thanks for understanding.**

 **And as always, I will see you wonderful people in the next chapter, _Chapter 9_ _: Book of Sorrow, Part Three..._**


	10. Book of Sorrow, Part Three

**Sorry for the cliffhangers, you guys! I'm a jerk, I know. But it makes things so much more interesting and exciting when you are left with more questions than answers.**

 **Also I have to give a quick shout-out to Cathari Sarad, who's been very helpful and supportive as I've been writing this.**

 **So without further ado, here's the last Part of the Book of Sorrow.**

 **BTW, It won't seem like a 'Book of Sorrow' until the very end. T** **here will be some long awaited fluff. And then there will be pain. And somebody will get seriously pissed.**

 **Also, the characters might act OOC for the rest of the story. just a secondary warning, in case it does happen.**

 **Enjoy...**

* * *

 **Chapter 9** **: Book of Sorrow, Part Three**

Mion sat in Keiichi's hospital room, absolutely seething. The last two days had been so demanding. She was currently staring at the source of all her anguish and frustration, who had woken up a few hours ago.

When they'd brought him to the hospital, Keiichi had asked for Mion. He had wanted to see her so bad, and wouldn't stop asking for her, so Akasaka stepped out to call her. Then, just as he left the room, Keiichi's heart stopped for two full minutes.

Thankfully, they'd restarted his heart and were able to bring him back. By the time Mion arrived, they'd started a blood transfusion and stabilized him.

When she'd seen him, Mion's heart had broken for him. His clothes were ruined, his hair was matted with gore and dirt, and his body had been burned and cut and stabbed in numerous places. She could only stand to look at him for a few seconds before she broke into tears and cried against her father's chest. She had requested that he be there personally, in case anything happened.

She was thankful for the support.

And two days later, Keiichi had made a surprisingly fast recovery. But he hadn't come out unscathed.

Keiichi looked terrible. Takano had tortured him to such terrible extents that his body was scarred in multiple places. A macabre trail of stars had been cut into his left forearm, and Keiichi had quickly taken to rubbing the injuries as a nervous tic. He also now had a long white scar over his right eye, giving him somewhat of an intimidating appearance. The doctor had also examined his leg and determined that he would never be able to walk the right way again.

Keiichi had seemed to take the news well, but at the same time Mion could tell he was dying inside. The past several days had clearly taken its toll on him, both mentally and physically.

"Alright, Keiichi." Dr. Irei said, stepping back from the bed. "Try and stand up."

Keiichi swung his legs over the side of the hospital bed and set his feet on the floor. As he did so, his face twisted in sudden discomfort.

Mion shot to her feet. "Take it easy, Keii-chan! You're going too fast." she said angrily.

He looked at her, agitated. "Sorry, Mion. Calm down. I think I've been screamed at enough for the last couple days."

His words cut at Mion, and she sat down hard.

Keiichi realized he'd hurt Mion, and he felt really bad. He hadn't meant to lash out at her. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."

"It's okay, Keii-chan." She said softly. "I wasn't thinking."

"Well, can you help me stand up? I'm feeling a little shaky in this leg." He held his hand out to her.

She smiled. "Sure." She walked over and held his hand, bracing herself so she could help him as he stood shakily to his feet.

"Ouch, ow..." He kept muttering. Mion kept uttering words of encouragement to him as he struggled to stay upright.

Finally, he said, "I think I got it, Mion. Thank you." He smiled at her, but for some reason, he wasn't letting go of her hand.

"You're welcome, Keii-chan." She smiled, blushing cutely. His hand felt so warm...

"Try taking a few steps, Keiichi." The doctor suggested.

Keiichi did as he was instructed, and Mion could see him limping slightly. His right leg was supporting his weight, but was having trouble due to the punishment it had taken. But he was managing, and that made Mion beam with pride. Keiichi really was a strong person.

"How is it?" Irei asked Keiichi when he stopped walking.

"It's not as bad as I was thinking it was gonna be." Keiichi said honestly. "I think I can handle it."

But as he let go of Mion's hand to stand on his own, his face distorted in pain, and Mion immediately grabbed his hand again.

"I don't think so, Keii-chan." She said sternly. "You need some more rest."

"Mion, I-"

She shut him up with a look. "No talking back. You're laying back down in that bed and that's it." She guided him back to the hospital bed, ordering him to lay down. He began to argue, but finally acquiesced and got back in the bed.

"Alright then." Dr. Irei said. "I can give you some medicine for the pain, and I can get you some crutches, but the crutches will take time. Is that okay?"

Keiichi opened his mouth, but Mion spoke for him. "Yes, that'll be good, Coach."

Dr. Irei got the message. "Alright then. Sounds like a plan. Keiichi, you can check out today if you feel like it. I'll speak to the nurses up front and let them know the situation. If you need anything, you know where to find me at the clinic." He quickly left the room.

* * *

Mion stared at Keiichi for the longest time. She seemed really, really mad. Her gaze drilled holes in his skull until he couldn't take it anymore.

"What's your deal?" Keiichi said. "You think looking at me like that is gonna get anywhere?"

She simply shook her head. "You just can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you? Do you even know how much you worried everyone?"

Keiichi looked at her. "Yeah, I can kind of guess at how bad it was."

"No you can't, Keii-chan." She snapped. "Satoko was crying. She couldn't sleep for two days without having nightmares. I cried my eyes out every day, worried where you were and if you were doing okay. And don't get me started on Rika. She became depressed. She didn't show it, but I could see it. Your disappearance affected everyone."

Keiichi listened to her words,the realization sinking in that perhaps she was right. Maybe him being taken away had more of an impact on his friends than he'd thought. He had always felt like an outsider with them, no matter how close he got to them. It just felt like he'd never really fit in with the village, and he'd resigned himself to that opinion.

He felt terrible. He'd been more concerned about being sorry for himself instead of thinking about the others. He could tell himself all day long that he'd constantly thought about the others, but honestly he'd been selfish and thought mostly about his own pain.

He chuckled softly. "Some kind of friend I am, huh?" He said to Mion, who looked at Keiichi in surprise.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, I thought about you guys whenever I was with Takano, but I never really thought about how bad you guys were suffering. I figured you'd just be worried about me, and get pissed at me for disappearing like that. And that would be it."

He looked at her evenly, trying to convey the guilt he felt with his eyes. "You guys are very important to me. Especially you, Mion. I just want you all to be happy." He looked down at his hands. "You guys would be better off with someone else as a friend."

It was quiet for a moment, then suddenly a loud crack filled the air, and Keiichi's cheek stung. His eyes widened.

" _Idiot._ " Mion said softly.

He looked at Mion in surprise. _She'd slapped him._

She dropped her hand and looked at him. He could tell she was trying to look angry, but was failing. "Who are you to say that we'd be better off without you?" She said, her voice slightly choked. "After all we've been through, do you think I'd want anyone else by my side?"

She slipped her hand in his as she continued talking. She couldn't stop herself now. All the emotions that had built up over the past year had finally peaked and began flooding out. "You're important to me too, Keii-chan. You're one of the most important people in my life, and you've been that way for a very long time. Nobody could replace you, Keiichi. Nobody..."

She then looks off to the side, as if debating something. Finally, she looks resolved to say something.

"Keii-chan... I really, really like you. And I don't care if you don't like me back. I just want you to know that you have people that truly care about you! You're not an outsider here, and I don't want you to feel that way!"

* * *

Keiichi stared. Mion Sonozaki had just confessed that she was in love with him. The situation seemed so unreal. Emotions flooded through him. Surprise, happiness, strong affection, and finally confusion...

He spoke up. "I like you too, Mion." He tightened his grip on her hand in affirmation.

Mion's face brightened. "You mean... you like me as in 'you want me as a girlfriend?'"

He nodded. Tears of pure joy began streaming down her cheeks as she buried her face in his chest.

 _"I don't think I've ever been so happy before."_ Mion thought. _"It's unreal."_

He smiled, and ran his hand through her hair. "Mion, I'm sorry for worrying you all... But, I gotta ask something."

She looked up from his chest. "What, Keii-chan?"

He looked at her beautiful, green eyes for a moment before finally asking, "Why me? What makes me so special to you?"

Mion just looked at him, then smiled her usual sly smile. "You really are an idiot sometimes, Keii-chan. _What doesn't make you special to me_ , is what you should be asking."

She sat up on the bed next to him. "You're a strong person. You genuinely care for others, and place other's happiness before your own. You're brilliant, and you have a way with words that I've never seen before. You have a way about you that makes people want to follow you. And..." She stopped, and began blushing.

He poked at her. "Hey, don't stop now, Mion! What were you going to say right there?"

She blushed harder, and began playing with her hair. "Well... you... also... look very... handsome... I guess..." She turned her head away from him, thoroughly embarrassed at what she'd just said.

Keiichi smiled. "Mion, look at me." As she turned to look at him, he said. "To be completely honest, I've always felt you to be a bit out of my league. You're very beautiful. You have a way about you that naturally cheers people up, and your smile could light up an entire room. I can't think of anything that I _don't_ like about you. In fact, I love everything about you."

Mion looked at him with teary eyes. "Keiichi..." She then laid herself against Keiichi's chest, and allowed herself to be held by him. She looked at him, and they gazed at each other's eyes for the longest time.

Finally, Keiichi leaned in and touched his lips to Mion's.

* * *

Mion's mind short circuited when Keiichi kissed her. She'd dreamed about this moment for so long, and now that it was finally happening, she had no idea what to do. It all seemed like an impossible dream, but it was coming true before her very eyes.

Keiichi pulled away, looking at her funny. "Too soon?" he said, unsure of himself.

She stared at him for a while, then shook her head. She grinned slyly at him. "Actually, I wasn't paying attention. So you might need to do it again. Unless you're too chicken..." She teased him.

"Oh, bite me." But he grinned and leaned in to kiss her again. And this time, Mion kissed him back.

Fireworks went off in her head and her heart raced. But all in all, Mion couldn't have been happier.

The kiss seemed to last forever. As they broke apart for air, Mion sighed and rested her head on Keiichi's shoulder. "So, I guess this means we're a thing now, huh?"

"Yep." Keiichi grinned. "We're definitely a thing."

Mion giggled happily. Keiichi pulled his head back in surprise. "Did I just hear Mion Sonozaki giggle like a girl?"

She glared at him. "Yeah, I did, Keiichi. Do you have a problem with that?"

He chuckled. "Nope, in fact it's adorable." He held her tighter as he noticed that she was now using his full name.

Mion smiled. "Good. I was gonna say you'd have to deal with it, but whatever."

They laid there in silence, enjoying each other's company.

"So..." Keiichi said, breaking the silence. "You don't mind that I look like... this now?"

She looked at him like he'd just said he was an alien. "Look like what?"

"Well, I got all these scars now... and they're not the most attractive things ever."

She adjusted herself slightly, and ran a finger along the scar over his eye. "I kinda like the new look. Makes you look tougher."

"What, I wasn't tough looking before?" He asked indignantly.

"Nope." She said innocently. "Not really. You looked pretty scrawny."

"Okay, you little troll." Keiichi said, poking her in the side.

She laughed. "Don't do that, it tickles!"

"Oh?" He poked her again, repeatedly. She laughed harder and harder, begging him to stop.

"Keii-chan, I swear I'm going to hit you if you don't stop!" She managed to say between breaths.

"You can't do that to me, I'm still technically in the hospital." But he stopped per her request.

Mion looked at him and saw that he was grinning crazily. "What's with you?" She said.

"I love your laugh." he said. "I really do."

She smiled, and laid her head against his chest. "I swear, you're too smooth sometimes. How did I get so lucky to end up with you?"

"How in the world are you lucky? You're stuck with a loser like me."

"Well, I always felt I was too tomboyish, and that you wouldn't ever see me as a girl. So, I was always afraid I'd lose you to Rena or one of the other girls. They always seemed to be cuter than me."

"Well," he replied honestly. "You're cute enough just the way you are."

The new couple held each other for the longest time, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Shion and Satoshi walked down the hallway leading to Keiichi's room, idly chatting.

"I mean," She told her boyfriend. "Mion shouldn't be the only one to visit Keiichi. We're his friends too, right? We should be there for him, just as much as Onee is."

"I've never met the guy, though." Satoshi pointed out. "Wouldn't I technically _not_ be his friend?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "If I leave you two boys alone, you will become best friends in five minutes, flat. I guarantee it."

They approached Keiichi's room. "In fact, now's the perfect time for you guys to get to know each other!"

She opened the door quietly, in case Keiichi was sleeping. But as she looked inside, a look of absolute disbelief came over her face, followed by a wide grin.

Her sister and her crush were laying next to each other, deep in a kiss. Keiichi's arms were wrapped around her tightly, and she was snuggled up rather close to him.

 _"Well, well, well."_ Shion thought to herself. _"Onee finally did it. Way to go, sis."_

Shion closed the door as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb them. She turned to Satoshi and smiled as she dragged him away. "Actually, maybe we can wait for a bit. They're having a bit of a moment."

* * *

After a while, Mion was woken up by a loud rumbling sound. She opened her eyes and snickered. It was her new boyfriend's stomach, yelling for food.

"Hey, wake up." She said, poking Keiichi.

Keiichi grumbled in his sleep, and rolled over, pulling Mion closer to him. Mion laughed, and kissed him on the forehead. "Come on, sleepyhead. It's time to get up."

Keiichi's eyes fluttered. "Mion? What... what are you..." He seemed to realize, with a shock, that he was holding her. Then, he softly beamed. "So, it wasn't a dream. That's good."

"Oh, that's cute." Mion said. "I'm so dreamy..."

"Well, if you want I could go farther and call it a nightmare..."

"Okay, now you're just being a smartass." She sat up. "Come on, you need to eat something." She got up from the bed and straightened out her clothes.

Keiichi watched his girlfriend in awe. She really was all his now.

She noticed him staring, and smiled. "Geez, keep staring and you'll get a nosebleed." She spun around, making sure her breasts bounced around to mess with him.

Keiichi's nose began leaking like she'd hoped, and she bent over laughing.

"Okay, that's not fair!" Keiichi said, holding his nose.

"Sorry, Keiichi." She said, straightening. "I couldn't help myself. I'll be right back, I'm gonna grab us something from the cafeteria."

"Don't take too long now." He said, pointedly.

She winked at him, then turned around and left the room.

On her way to the cafeteria, she passed by the waiting area. Shion and Satoshi were sitting there, apparently waiting for her.

"Ah, Onee!" Shion said, smiling. "Glad to see you finally untangled yourself from Keiichi..."

Mion turned fifteen shades of red. "Wh-wh-what are you talking about, sis?" She stammered, feigning innocence.

"Oh, don't play dumb." Shion said, standing up and walking over to her older sister. "I saw you and Keiichi all lovey dovey."

Mion blushed harder, and tried to speak, but she was flustered.

Shion felt like she went too far in her teasing, and hugged her sister. "Sis, I'm happy for you. I really am. You guys were practically meant for each other. Just don't make me an aunt yet, alright?"

She winked at her sister.

"Same goes for you, Shion." Mion threw back at her, smiling.

Satoshi stiffened, blushing hard as he heard what Mion said. But Shion simply laughed.

"Well played, Mion." She said. "Well played."

* * *

Mion ended up walking with the two teenagers to the cafeteria and grabbed lunch for all four of them. When they made it back to the hospital room, Keiichi beamed at Mion, who blushed as she served him his dinner. Satoshi and Shion sat in the chairs while Mion sat next to Keiichi on the bed.

They chatted happily together, and the sisters ended up pushing their boyfriends to do most of the talking. As predicted, they quickly became good friends, laughing hard at shared experiences.

"And, isn't it annoying," Satoshi said, giving a side look at Shion. "How certain green-haired women seem to know exactly how to mess with your head?"

"Oh, you too?" Keiichi groaned. "Did they put you in the swan outfit, too?"

Satoshi winced. "Dude, I was there when they first got it. I hated that thing."

"They still have it, man." Keiichi told him morbidly. "And it's their favorite punishment outfit, too."

Mion and Shion chuckled, and gave each other thumbs up as Satoshi shivered.

"And that's not all." Keiichi said. "When I first moved here, they had an absolute _blast_ messing with me. They would switch identities all the time, and I always got so pissed when they told me who they really were." He glared at Shion. "That one over there made me feel like a dumbass on _several_ occasions."

Shion laughed. "Well, it's so easy to fool you, Keii-chan."

"But don't worry." Keiichi added. "I know which one is which now. You guys can't fool me anymore."

"How, Keiichi?" Mion asked, looking skeptical.

"Simple. Your eyes shine when you look at me, Mion. And they're a lot prettier than hers."

"Shut up." She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Wow," Shion said. "You two are such lovebirds."

Mion wrapped her arms around Keiichi's arm and pulled him close. "Well, just remember, sis. Keiichi's mine now, and you need to be careful with how you tease him." She said, winking at Shion. "Who knows what I'll do."

"God help any girl that messes with Keiichi..." Satoshi said bluntly. "Mion'll kill any girl that even _thinks_ about flirting with him."

"Hey, you act like they'll be the only ones getting in trouble!" Keiichi interjected. "I'll be getting chewed out as well!"

"And don't you forget it." Mion said, poking him hard in the ribs.

They all laughed as Keiichi blanched.

Eventually Rena, Satoko, Rika and Hanyuu came to visit. Satoko was very happy to see Keiichi again, throwing herself at him and hugging him hard. Keiichi half expected her to snap her fingers and drop a wash basin on him again. But he hugged her back, feeling affection towards the young girl.

Hanyuu heard about Keiichi's leg, and asked to look at it. Keiichi nodded, and pointed out where he'd been stabbed and where he'd been shot. She tentatively reached a hand out to touch it, and Keiichi yelped after she did. It felt like he'd been shocked.

"Sorry," Hanyuu had said, but she smiled softly as she turned away.

They visited a while before it occurred to Satoshi that he should thank Keiichi. After all, Keiichi was practically Satoko's adopted big brother.

Satoshi looked at him. "Thanks for taking care of her while I was gone, by the way." He said, bowing slightly. "It means a lot to me."

"It was no trouble at all." Keiichi replied. Then he corrected himself. "Well, no trouble except for all the times she kept springing traps on me. She was relentless!" He shook his head.

" _Ohohohohoho_ ~ Why are you talking like I'm going to quit, Keiichi-san?" Satoko chuckled evilly. "I've only just started..."

"Oh, come on, Satoko!" Keiichi cried out, and everyone started laughing again.

After a while, Rika mentioned to the others that it was starting to get late. She, Hanyuu and Satoko left to go home. Satoko decided that she was gonna keep living with Rika and Hanyuu after all. She had become rather independent since her nii-nii's disappearance, and she'd grown fond of living with her two friends.

Satoshi mentioned he was gonna walk the three girls home, gave his girlfriend a kiss, and left as well. Rena followed him out the door, waving bye to Mion.

Mion looked at Keiichi. "They said you could leave today, right?"

Keiichi thought about it for a second, then nodded. "I think so, yeah."

"Alright then!" Mion stood up. "Let's get you out of here."

She held her hand out to him, which he happily took and he struggled to his feet. As he stood, he frowned.

"That's weird." He said, puzzled. "Pain's gone." He shook his leg, but sure enough the pain was gone.

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Mion said.

"Maybe the power of _love_ cured him." Shion teased.

Mion blushed hard. But Keiichi just grinned and pulled Mion close. "Maybe." He said, planting a kiss on the top of her head. "Love conquers all, isn't that how the saying goes?"

Mion closed her eyes. _Oh, Keiichi... you're good._

"Okay, lovebirds." Shion said, rolling her eyes. "I think it's time to leave now."

* * *

They walked from the hospital back to the village, chatting with each other. Shion noticed how her sister was slowly getting used to the fact that she and Keiichi were now dating, and how she was not getting as embarrassed as she was before.

Right now they walked next to her, talking as they always did: poking fun at each other and talking excitedly. The only difference is that they now walked arm in arm, oblivious to everything else in the world.

Once they reached the cross in the road leading to each other's homes, Keiichi had pulled Mion close and gave her a kiss goodbye. Shion, naturally, voiced her approval with a loud " _Awwwww...!"_ Mion merely looked over at her sister in annoyance and pulled Keiichi closer. Finally, they broke the kiss and bid each other goodnight.

As they walked away, Mion felt a tug in her heart. She wanted to be with him longer...

Shion noticed her sister's mood. "You miss him already, don't you?"

Mion laughed and scratched her neck nervously. "Yeah, it's weird. Is that bad?"

Shion shook her head. "I think it's something all new couples do. I mean, its the same with me and Satoshi-kun. Now that we're together, I want to be with him all the time and it feels like I'm missing part of me when I'm not with him. Is that what you feel?"

"Yeah, sorta." Mion nodded.

"Well, hey, look at it this way!" Shion said, nudging her sister. "We both landed the guys of our dreams, and we pulled you out of your shell at last!"

The two sisters laughed and continued walking, unaware of the van swiftly approaching from behind them.

They wouldn't notice it until it was too late.

* * *

"Mom, Dad!" Keiichi hollered as he walked in the front door to his house. "I'm home!"

"Oh, you're out of the hospital already?" His mother cried as she down the stairs to meet him. She crushed him in a big hug. "Oh, that's great, sweetheart! I was so worried you'd be stuck in there for a while! They wouldn't tell us anything about when you'd be released, they said it was all up to you!"

"Mom... can't... breathe... need... AIR!" Keiichi managed to choke out.

His mother finally released him, and he was able to breathe again. His father came out from behind his mother and grinned. "Good to see you, son. I came to see you earlier today, but apparently your girlfriend beat me to you." He gave Keiichi a big thumbs up. "Way to score, son!"

Keiichi blushed as his mother gaped at him. His dad's big mouth was going to land him in trouble. "It.. it's not like that, Mom! Yeah, Mion and I are dating, but we're not going _that_ far! I swear!"

His mother smiled. "Oh, is Mion the nice girl that calls all the time? I like her. She's a sweetheart."

"Oh, then you wouldn't believe me when I say she has an evil streak a mile wide." he said flatly.

"Oh, I'd believe that." Keiichi's father said. "That's your mother right there."

His mother hit him.

"Well, come on." his dad said, chuckling. "We've got dinner all ready."

"Thanks, but I already ate." Keiichi said.

"Oh come on, don't be a stranger." His mother said, pulling him by the arm to the kitchen. "At least sit with us and tell us all about her."

Keiichi relented, and started to follow his parents into the kitchen. But just then, the phone rang in the hall.

"Let me get it." Keiichi said, and ran to answer the phone. He was hoping it was Mion.

"Hello, Maebara residence." He answered.

"Maebara-kun?" A female voice that was NOT Mion's purred in his ear. It sent chills down his spine. "Oh, it's a surprise to hear your voice again! How long has it been, two days?"

"Takano..." He growled. "How about you cut the shit and tell me what the hell you want."

"Oh my... you certainly have a bad mood. Well, then. I'll be short. I didn't get what I want, so now I have several things that might be important to you. And if you don't come see me before midnight, they'll end up dead. You know where to find me." The line clicked shut.

But not before he heard a familiar voice cry his name.

Mion's voice.

Keiichi slammed the phone down, but it rang again. Keiichi answered. "What?!" He said angrily.

"Oh, sorry, is this Keiichi?" Satoshi's voice came over the line panicked.

"Satoshi! What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No, not really. I got a lump on the back of my head the size of a baseball. But worse than that, the girls are gone."

"What?" Keiichi's fingers gripped the phone tighter.

"Yeah. Rika, Hanyuu, Satoko, they're gone. Somebody knocked me out and took them!"

"They have Mion and probably Shion too." Keiichi said.

Keiichi was silent for a moment. His mind raced, and pieces quickly began to fall in place.

"What are we going to do? They have my little sister, man! They have our girlfriends! We can't just sit here! And my head hurts so bad I can hardly even think!"

"Yeah, I know." He responded. "Listen, I know where to find them. Meet me in front of the school in ten minutes."

"Got it." The line clicked.

He slammed the phone on the receiver. He turned to walk up the stairs, but his father stopped him.

"What's going on, son?" His father said, concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Keiichi whirled around, and his father noted that, with the addition of the scar over his eye, his son looked very frightening. He'd seen his son angry before, but now he looked downright murderous.

"The people that took me? They took my friends." He said shortly. "They took Mion."

His dad looked at him, then nodded. He understood his son was thinking. He would've done the same thing. "I'll keep your mom busy for as long as I can. You need any help getting ready to go?"

Keiichi began walking upstairs. "Don't worry." He said. "I know where the guns are."

* * *

 **Man, I've been wanting to write that last bit of fluff for the longest time. I ship Mion and Keiichi so fricking hard. I just wish they had gotten together in the actual show.**

 **But the story is now reaching its peak. Are you guys ready for the end? I am.**

 **Thanks for all the support, you guys. We're reaching half a thousand views pretty quickly as I write this (12/8/15) and its been a little over two weeks since I started. You guys are amazing.**

 **As before, I ask that you guys, if you leave a review, please do not leave chapter spoilers in the review area. There are people starting the story all the time and I want them to be able to enjoy the story if they can. If you have any concerns about the story line, please PM me.**

 **Also, I'm working on the general idea for my next story. It won't be Higurashi, but I'll write another one after I finish this next one.**

 **As always, thank you, you wonderful people for all the support! If you haven't already, favorite or follow this story so you can get notified when the next chapter is posted. And I will see you guys in the next chapter, _Chapter 10_ _: Book of Fear, Part One..._**

 _ **Until next time.**_


	11. Book of Fear, Part One

**You guys... are the best. You guys have been sending me awesome PM's talking about how much you guys are enjoying this story, and it makes me feel so great. I can't thank you enough. I'm enjoying writing this so much more thanks to your support.**

 **I'm finishing the outline on my next story already, in fact I spent most of yesterday working on it. And, I gotta say I'm very, VERY excited to work on the story, which is my take on the continuation of one of my favorite anime series ever. I hope you guys will follow me to that story as well. But, with that story, my updating is going to be very different. While I was updating this story every day or so with a new chapter, the next story will be updated _weekly._ I almost ran myself into the ground with my stupid little challenge. Regardless, this will be the fastest I've ever finished a story, which is in less than a month. Insane... My last book I wrote took me six months to write. So, yeah, your support means a lot to me.**

 **So I hope you guys enjoy these final chapters.**

 **Here's the next one.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10** **: Book of Fear, Part One**

The downpour of rain drenched Keiichi as he raced on his bike towards the school. Thoughts racing through his mind, making the fire in his heart burn all the brighter. Takano wasn't satisfied with just driving him to his breaking point, she was going to do the same to his friends. She was going to hurt, and maybe kill Mion... and then Rika, and...

 _...wait a minute..._

... _Rika..._

Keiichi gasped. _So that's what this was all about._

Her entire goal had been to kill Rika from the start. It's what she wanted last summer, so what form of reason would cause her to abandon that goal now? She was obsessed with killing Rika and causing the village to go crazy with the syndrome so she could get her research completed. And now that she knew Rika's friends would protect her, it was only right that she would go for them first.

But, Keiichi couldn't find any clear reasoning behind how she went about eliminating her targets. She didn't kill Keiichi when she had the chance, and she'd had two separate opportunities in which she could've easily done so...

Was she losing her mind?

He flashed back to when she was talking to him before she started torturing him.

 _Takano began to scratch at her neck, drawing blood. "You have no idea how crazy I am. But it doesn't matter..."_

He knew he'd seen that action somewhere before... where was it?

He gasped.

 _Hinamizawa Syndrome._ That would explain everything. Her erratic behavior, her sudden cruel nature, her sudden outbursts, her scratching her neck incessantly, even making herself bleed. She was on the threshold of being what Dr. Irei called an L5. The last stage of the Syndrome. Where the person self destructed.

He gritted his teeth and pedaled harder. _This isn't good. Mion is in serious trouble!_

* * *

About ten minutes later, Keiichi arrived at the school. Panting, he threw down his bike, and ran inside, knowing that Satoshi would be waiting for him there. He patted his pocket to make sure the gun he had chosen was still there.

As he entered the building, he was surprised to see Rika, of all people, asleep on the staircase.

"Rika!" he cried, rushing to the little girl's side. "You're safe!"

Rika groaned. She didn't bother with the little girl persona anymore. There was no reason to. "Yeah, I'm safe, but my whole body hurts." She looked up at Keiichi. "Keiichi, this has to end tonight. Takano is-"

"-an L5. I know, I figured it out on the way over here." He finished for her. "And, yeah. It's gonna end tonight. One way or another." He smiled and winked at her. "I made a few calls."

At that moment, the door opened behind them. Satoshi Hojo and Takao Sonozaki walked inside, and looked expectantly at Keiichi.

"Alright, Maebara." Mion's dad said. "You called us here for a reason. What's going on?"

"First things first." Keiichi quickly explained to the two men what was going on. How Takano had contracted the Syndrome and had descended into an L5 status. He explained that she was trying to kill Rika because she was the one keeping the village sane, and that Takano wanted to exploit that for her research. He explained how they stopped her last summer, and how she was after them again.

"Also..." he started to say sheepishly. "I'm... also... dating your daughter now..."

Takao looked at him surprised, then laughed and clapped him on the back. "Well, it's about time! You're all Mion talks about when we talk to her on the phone! She must be very happy now..." He a serious look. "But, I gotta tell you something. As her father, it's my job to tell you that if you make her cry... _**I will kill you.**_ "

Keiichi smiled, and Takao was surprised that he wasn't cowering. Many men had wilted under Takao's gaze, but Keiichi took it like a man should. Strong, and unbending.

"Let's just focus on getting your daughters back," Keiichi said. "Then we can talk specifics." He looked at Satoshi. "By the way..."

He walked over to his locker, opened it and reached inside. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding something very familiar to Satoshi.

"My bat!"

Keiichi smiled. "This helped me out a lot last summer. But, I think this will help you out more than it'll help me." He said, handing the baseball bat to Satoshi. He took it, grateful.

Then he looked at Keiichi in confusion. "But wait, what are you going to be using? You can't go in there empty handed."

"Of course not." He said. "That's why I got this." He reached into the holster at his side, and pulled out the gun he pulled from his dad's collection.

Truth be told, it wasn't his father's. It was actually his. It was a Browning BDA 21mm handgun. His father had gotten it for him when Keiichi had won the Regional Marksman Championship before he moved to Hinamizawa. This was while he was still shooting people with the rubber band gun. After his father found out about it, he'd taken the gun and placed it in his safe for when he felt Keiichi was ready to use it again.

Now was the time. Now he wasn't shooting for fun. He was firing a live gun to protect someone dear to him. This time, he would shoot to kill.

Takao looked at Keiichi in surprise. "That's a nice piece. How long have you had that?"

"For a while now." Keiichi responded. "Just never needed to use it until now."

"And now?" Takao said, looking at him curiously.

Keiichi gave Takao a steely-eyed gaze, painting his emotions across his face. The scar across his eye have Keiichi a fearsome look. Takao actually took a step back, frightened for a brief second. Then grinned. Not many men could do that to him.

"If you knew the pain I went through getting these scars," Keiichi said. "You know I would would do anything to make sure Mion never has to go through that."

Takao looked at Keiichi and grinned. _Maybe this kid is a lot more like me than I thought._

"Can I rely on your help, Mr. Sonozaki?" Keiichi asked. "Can I borrow your strength to save my friends? With your help, there's no way we can fail."

Mion's father nodded. "You got it, Maebara. What's the plan?"

"Simple." Keiichi said, sitting on the staircase next to Rika. "Takano told me she's holding everyone where I was being tortured, so she's going to expect us going in there. She said she's going to kill them at midnight, so we've got about five hours to pull this off." He looks at Takao. "You're going to be providing some help with getting them safely home, while also providing some cover fire while Satoshi and I rush and get them out of there before Takano notices they're gone."

"Sounds good," Takao said. "Nicely planned out, too. Ever thought about doing this thing for a living?"

Keiichi chuckled. "Maybe once or twice."

He looked at Satoshi and Rika. "Any objections?"

"Just one," Rika said. "I'm coming with you."

"But, Rika," Satoshi said. "You're the reason Takano is doing all this in the first place. Wouldn't it be smart to stay away from her?"

"Logically, yes." Rika said. "But right now, we're not dealing with a logical person, are we? We're dealing with someone driven out of her mind, maybe even past that. So, she thought that she kidnapped me, right? But I rolled out of her van before they knew it and came here. So, if I go and face her, it might create the opening you need to kill her." She looked Keiichi in the eyes. "That is your intent, isn't it? To kill Miyo Takano."

Keiichi started, but smiled. "You know, you're too smart for your own good. Alright, fine. You can come with us. But I want you sticking to my side, no matter what. If I say run, you run. Understood?"

Rika smiled. "Very well. We'll do this your way."

"Good." Keiichi said, standing. "We're wasting time standing her. Let's move."

"You're not leaving me behind, are you? Are you?" a female voice asked from the doorway.

They turned and Keiichi smiled at the sight of Rena, holding her cleaver over her shoulder.

He shook his head. "Not a chance. I'm just glad you're okay!"

Rena smiled cutely.

* * *

Mion groaned. Her head felt like it was splitting, and she felt so _disoriented..._ She was laying down on a very rough surface and

"..nee? Onee!"

She heard Shion calling her and opened her eyes. She saw she was in a small, dimly lit cabin and her sister, Satoko and Hanyuu were looking at her with concern.

"Sis?" She sat up straight, and held her head as the headache intensified. "What happened?"

"We got grabbed." Shion said, embracing her sister. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay. You were out a lot longer than we were, so I got worried!"

"But... who...?" She started to ask, then she stopped as she realized the only person that could be doing this. "Takano. She's still sore about last year?"

"Yes." Satoko said. "I get the feeling it's a big trap. She's using us to lure Keiichi-san and Rika into the open so she can kill them easier. Afterwards, she can dispose of us, and have killed everyone that stopped her last year. It's not that far-fetched of an idea."

"Still, it's a bit dumb. Why didn't she just kill us right off the bat, and make the others think we're alive?" Mion said, leaning backwards. As she did so, her hands landed in something soft and wet.

She looked behind her at the wall and noticed a dark, semi-dried substance that ran down the wall and had pooled on the floor. She puller her hands up and looked at the brownish-red liquid that now coated them. "What is this, mud?"

Hanyuu, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "That's not blood, Mion." Her voice was calm and even. "That's blood. And I don't think I have to tell you who's it is."

Mion's eyes widened. _This is where Keiichi was..._

She began to shake, as she realized she was in a pool of her boyfriend's blood. She screamed and threw herself away from the wall. She landed in a heap by her sister, who realized that Mion was trembling. She held her sister close, whispering words of encouragement in her ears.

The door slammed open, and a tall, dark haired man stepped in the room. His gaze swept across the girls, examining each one intensely. He then grunted. "You're the Sonozaki girls. Aren't you?"

The twins looked surprised. "Yeah, we are." Mion said. "What is it to you?"

He grunted. "Great, now I'll have to deal with the Head of the family as well as Takano..."

"Wait... you know Ba-chan?" Shion said, surprised.

"Of course... I used to live here." The man said. "Call me Kirei."

"Then, why are you doing this?!" Hanyuu asked. "You know what Takano is planning to do, so why don't you stop her? If you let her do this, you'll die too!"

Kirei smiled. "It's worth it. I'll have gotten my revenge as well... against your family."

He looked off in the distance. "My family moved here to build the dam, and during the war, your family killed mine..."

He looked at the girls with an intense look. "The blood of my parents and my sisters are on your hands as well. Its on the hands of your entire family. So, it will bring me great pleasure killing you girls when this is over."

He then left. Short, but he'd given his side of the story as asked.

Satoko began to cry.

* * *

Keiichi heard Mion scream, and it had taken all his willpower not to run down the hill and break into the cabin. She was in there, he just knew it. Now he had to find a way to get past Kirei, and he was golden.

"Rena, you think you can handle Kirei with your cleaver?" Keiichi said.

Rena smiled at him. "Just get me close enough and I can do more than handle him."

"Good. Takao, keep an eye out, and if you see Takano, use the signal and let us know."

"You got it." The Sonozaki man laid on his belly and cozied up next to the sniper rifle he'd chosen. He chambered a bullet, and settled his face next to the scope, setting his eyes on the cabin area.

Keiichi pulled out his own gun, and made sure his magazine was full. "Let's go, you guys. Takao has it from here."

The others nodded. They followed Keiichi as they quickly made their way down the hill. The cries of the cicada's, as well as the moonlight streaming through the trees gave the forest a grim, haunting feeling. The chilly air seemed to cling to them, and sink into their bones.

Satoshi grabbed Rena and Keiichi and dropped to the ground. Rika quickly followed suit. They were halfway to the cabin, but there was nothing in sight.

"What is it?" Keiichi asked, but the blond haired boy quickly put a finger to his mouth, telling him to stay quiet. He then pointed towards the cabin, where a shape could be seen moving.

Kirei. He looked around him once, and then he entered the cabin. They could hear talking coming from inside.

"This is our chance." Keiichi whispered. "Satoshi, you go to the other side of the door and hit him with your bat, and Rena can then take him out easily."

The two teenagers nodded in agreement.

Rika looked at Keiichi in admiration. Here he was, the lives of his friends were in his hands and he was handling the situation with the mindset of an experienced general.

She smiled. He'd never get past the experience with Takano, not fully. He'd been changed too much by that experience, but perhaps in the best way possible. He was no longer a mere child, bashful and shy. He had become a man in his own right, calm, cool and collected, and mature. He was making intelligent, executive decisions without hesitation or fear.

He would make a fine addition to the Sonozaki family, indeed.

As soon as the door closed, Rena and Satoshi moved into position, their feet seeming to glide across the ground as they ran. They pressed themselves against the wall, and waited...

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, Kirei opened the door and exited the cabin, closing the door behind him. He didn't seem to notice the two teenagers who were lying in wait for him.

Satoshi roared as he swung his bat, cracking Kirei over the head. Kirei stumbled forward, surprised, but gained his bearings quickly and charged forward towards Satoshi. Satoshi moved with a speed which was surprising for a boy that had been asleep for two years. He ducked under the first of Kirei's fists, but the second unfortunately connected with his gut.

It felt like getting hit by a truck. Satoshi's eyes bulged and he felt the wind getting knocked out of him. The pain coursed through his stomach, and he fell to his knees, gagging and gasping for air. His chest felt tight, and he couldn't think.

 _It hurts... it hurts..._

But, then he remembered Keiichi's tale of what had happened to him. He'd gone through so much more pain than Satoshi was feeling right now, and here he was, leading an effort to rescue their friends. Satoshi couldn't give up, not now. Not when they were so close!

Satoshi gathered his strength, and roared as he drove the butt end of his bat into Kirei's gut. The man grunted in pain, and backed up. "Get a taste of your own medicine, asshole." Satoshi yelled.

Rena took this moment to rush forward with her cleaver, and with a loud cry, she brought down the cleaver on the man's neck.

* * *

"Good job, you two." Keiichi said, walking up to the two teenagers with Rika in tow. Upon seeing him, the two seemed to jump out of their skin.

"What is it?" Keiichi asked, confused. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"Well," Rena admitted. "You do look sort of scary in the moonlight, what with that scar over your eye and everything."

Keiichi started, then grinned. "Well, anyways, we took him out. Now let's get them out of there."

He pushed past them and walked over to the door to the cabin. Upon opening it, a wave of fear and memories washed over him. He saw the wall where he'd been hung for two days, saw his blood, and for a split second, he relived every moment of his torture. He heard her laughter, heard his own screams, and experienced that hell all over again.

But then, he looked and the sight of his girlfriend running to him with a look of absolute joy on her face made him forget all about that hell. He vowed he would use that experience and protect her at all costs.

No matter what it cost him.

* * *

"Keiichi!" Mion cried as she rushed forward and hugged him tightly. Tears began to form in her eyes. She felt his arms wrap around her, and for the first time in a long time, she really felt safe.

"Hey," He said softly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, now that you're here." She said, "I thought Kirei or Takano would've gotten you by now."

"Nope," Keiichi said. "Satoshi and Rena took good care of him."

Rika ran in, crying out "Hanyuu!" The two girls ran into each other and clung to each other, crying hard.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Rika!" Hanyuu cried, whimpering. "I saw you fall out of the van, and I didn't know what happened!"

"I went to the school and ran into Keiichi." Rika said. "He came up with this plan to save you!"

Keiichi blushed at hearing Rika's praise, then seemed to notice the blood on Mion.

"Mion? Who's blood is that?" He asked, worry evident in his voice.

"Oh, uh... it's... yours, I think." She said, pointing at where she had been sitting. "Is that where you were?"

He nodded. "Yep. I was hung on that wall for two days straight, and I never came down until Oishi came and saved me... right before... he died..." His gut tugged at him, and he wanted to cry as the memories washed over him. So many people did to save him that day...

"Detective Oishi is dead?" Shion said in surprise. Satoko started to cry all over again. Satoshi heard his sister cry and immediately rushed in and grabbed her.

"It's okay, Satoko." He said. "I'm here now. It's all okay."

After Satoko calmed down, Shion looked at Satoshi and said, "What, don't I get a little attention?"

He grinned and kissed her. "If we get out of this, I'll give you all the attention you want." He winked at her. Shion blushed hard, hearing his hint.

"Oh, my." Shion said, acting bashful. "I hope you know I'm going to hold you to that promise..."

"Okay, you two." Keiichi said, grinning. "You two can grab a room after we get out of here. We need to leave before Takano gets here."

Rika grabbed Hanyuu's hand. "Let's get going!" She led Hanyuu to the front door, and froze before the figure before them.

"Oh?" Miyo Takano asked, pointing a gun at Rika's head. "And what would you do if I was already here?" She cackled, as her other hand scratched at her throat wildly.

* * *

Keiichi instinctively placed himself in front of Mion, as did Satoshi with Shion and Satoko.

Takano walked into the room, causing everyone to back up into the blood-soaked corner of the small building. The dancing flames from the candles bathed Takano's face in an evil light. Her eyes reflected the fires, so it seemed like she had the eyes of a demon.

"My... my..." Takano said. "I didn't think you'd actually come for them, Maebara-kun." She said, training the gun on him. "But I'm glad you did. Now, I get to fulfill my promise to you about letting you hear her screams."

Keiichi growled. "I'm going to kill you, Takano. I swear I will."

"I look forward to seeing you try." Takano smiled.

"Rika, this is what I was afraid of..." Hanyuu said. "She's not an L5... she's an L6... she's gone and actually welcomed the Syndrome and is using her madness to accomplish what she wants!" she frowned. "It's exactly what happened to me before I died."

Rika looked at her in shock. "It's what?!"

Then Takano looked at Rika. "Why don't you come forward, Rika? If you do, I might let your friends go free. All it takes is a few steps..."

Rika pushed aside her shock and looked at Rena, who nodded. She then turned her gaze to Takano. "There's no need to wait, Takano. Why not just finish this and let them go now?"

Takano froze, seeming as if she were deep in thought. Her fingers still dug into her flesh, that never seemed to stop. Blood seeped from the ugly wounds in her neck, giving her more of a ghastly look.

"That's a good idea, actually." Takano said. "I agree. There is no need to wait." She smiled.

She then turned the gun on Rika and pulled the trigger.

* * *

 **Sorry for the somewhat short chapter, you guys. I've been a little tired lately and haven't had much time to work on the story. But I've been squeezing in all the time I have into working on my stories, and its working out well.**

 **So, we're literally two chapters away from the end of the story. It feels like it's been a long journey, and I'm glad you guys got to come along with me for the ride. I'll be sad when this is over. But that just means I can work on the next one, right?**

 **As always, please follow and favorite the story, it really helps out by letting me know you enjoy what you guys are reading. And while you're at it, add me to either your author alerts list or your favorite authors list! It really supports me and helps other people see my work when they visit your profile!**

 **If you leave a review, I kindly ask that you don't leave chapter spoilers. Please be courteous to people that are just starting the story.**

 **Thank you, you wonderful people, for all the support! And as always, I will see you all in the penultimate chapter, _Chapter 11_ _: Book of Fear: Part 2..._**

 _ **See you next time.**_


	12. Book of Fear, Part Two

**I know everyone wants to get to the actual story, so I'll be brief. I mean, it's not like that many of you guys actually read this section right? But, if you guys do, I love you forever.**

 **BTW, this story surpassed half a thousand reads today, with a record breaking 257 in two days... Yeah, that's how many. I added it up. What are you guys doing with your lives? Lol I appreciate the love you're giving the story. You're making my friends think I'm gonna get famous as a writer. I call bullshit, though.**

 **So, Here's Part Two of the Book of Fear.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11** **: Book of Fear, Part Two**

The bullet slammed into Rika, blood spurting from her small chest as she fell.

However, Rena had somehow read Rika's intentions and had grabbed her just as the bullet went off. When Rena moved, so did everyone else.

"Satoshi, get the girls out of here! I got Takano!" Keiichi yelled. He quickly tackled Takano, gripping the hand with the gun tightly as the two struggled on the ground, wrestling for dominance.

Mion started to rush to help Keiichi, but Shion grabbed her. "Not now, you idiot! Run!" The group quickly ran outside, following Satoshi towards where they would meet up with Takao, with Shion carrying Rika.

"Keiichi's all by himself back there!" Mion cried.

"Yeah, he is!" Satoshi said. "But that's what he wanted! He came all this way just for you guys, and he'd rather let himself die than let you die! So get moving, because I'm _not_ about to get chewed out by him!"

Mion forced herself to resist the urges to run back and help, and focused instead on Rika's wounds. She gasped as she felt the bullet hole.

"How is she?" her sister asked.

"Not good." Mion said, applying pressure to Rika's chest. The blood just kept flowing.

"Damn it." Mion said. She'd never felt so useless before. Keiichi was fighting a bat-crazy woman with a gun, and one of her closest friends was bleeding to death right before her.

"Where are we even going?" Hanyuu called ahead.

"There's a van up the hill that should be waiting to get us." Satoshi called back. "That is, if Mr. Sonozaki kept up his end of the plan and got there in time!"

"Wait, Dad is here?" Mion asked. "You guys actually got him to help out?"

Satoshi grinned back at her, despite the fear coursing through him. "Yeah, he's pretty awesome."

"How did you guys even get him to listen to your plans?" Shion said. "Dad doesn't let anyone order him around. He's that intimidating!"

"Apparently Keiichi was the more intimidating of the two. He took one look at your dad and he made him back up!"

 _Whoa,_ Mion thought. Keiichi really knew how to get to people. She flushed with loving pride for a moment, which was promptly shattered by worry.

 _Keiichi, you better not die on me. Not this time._

* * *

The girls continued to follow Satoshi up the ridge line, constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure Takano wasn't behind them. They half expected bullets to begin flying after them, attempting to end their lives.

"Keep moving, Shion!" Rena cried. "Don't be looking back like that!"

Shion had turned around and was looking behind her in a daze. As Rena called her name, she shook her head out of whatever daze she'd been in and continued running. She'd long since taken the responsibility from Mion to apply pressure to Rika's wound, but it wasn't working well. Blood continued to slowly oooze out between her fingers, despite the pressure. Shion shed tears as she began to fear for the life of her friend.

Satoko stumbled next to her and fell over. "This is too much... I can't go anymore... just kill me now..."

"Snap out of it, Satoko!" Her big brother called, running back to grab her. "I'm not letting you die! You're coming with me, damn it!"

"Nii-nii...!" She sobbed. Strong as she tried to be, she was still a little girl. She struggled to her feet and held her brother's hand as they ran.

When they reached the top of the hill, Satoshi let go of his sister's hand and rushed forward. He looked around, then began to pull at his hair, cursing loudly. "No, no, no, NO! He was supposed to be here! We left it right here! Where did it go?"

"Nii-nii." Satoko said, running to her brother's side. ""What did you leave here?"

"The van, Satoko." Satoshi said, "The van was parked right here, and it was supposed to be running so we could just leave!"

"Looking for something?" A deep voice echoed through the night. Satoshi turned around just in time to see a giant fist flying towards his face.

* * *

Satoshi went down like a sack of bricks, blood flowing from his shattered nose like a river. Shion screamed as his body fell, almost forgetting that she was still holding Rika in her arms.

Kirei stood over his body, shaking his fist slightly. In the other hand, he was holding Takao Sonozaki's limp body by the neck of his shirt.

"Dad!" The twins cried.

"Damn, that kid's got a bony nose." He turned and smiled at Rena. "You're next, little girl."

Rena glared at the man and brandished her cleaver. "I knew I should have killed you instead of knocking you out." She smiled. "My fault."

Kirei brandished a long Bowie knife, and lunged at Mion. But Rena was there in an instant, swinging her blade and deflecting the killing blow away from her friend. Mion quickly backed up and pushed her friends back, having nowhere else to go.

Kirei growled, and lunged at her, swinging the blade. Rena moved to deflect, but Kirei twisted at the last second and slid the knife across her leg. Rena screamed in pain, and backpedaled.

"You may know how to use that cleaver to a certain extent," Kirei said. "But in the end, it's just a clumsy weapon."

Rena smiled. "Yeah, well I'm going to kill you with this clumsy weapon. You can count on it, you can!"

"We'll see about that." Kirei said. "I've trained with people from the SAS and the KGB. Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"

"Yes, I do." Rena winked.

Kirei growled. "Well, lets put that big mouth of yours to the test then, brat!"

The two clashed once more.

* * *

"Let... GO OF ME!" Takano screeched as she struggled with Keiichi. She tried pushing him off, but Keiichi kept hold of her somehow.

Reaching over, he was able to get the gun out of her hand and tossed it across the room. He then began laying into her, and the experiences from the last couple of days added strength to his blows. He punched her, over and over and over brutally, but she still looked at him with a crazed expression on her face.

She brought her legs up, braced her feet against Keiichi's chest, and kicked him off of her. Keiichi fell backwards, knocking over several of the candles and torture instruments. One candle landed on the couch and quickly caught fire.

Takano went for the gun, but Keiichi came to his senses and tackled her again. He landed on her back, and wrapped his arms around her neck. He began pulling backwards, tightening his grip on her throat. She began to choke and gasp for air. She rolled over, attempting to throw him off.

They rolled across the floor, even into the still-drying pool of blood in the corner. He felt the blood coating him as they rolled over and over in the liquid, but he managed to hold on the entire time.

She struggled to her feet, with Keiichi still hanging onto her. She turned to the fall, and began smashing him against the wall.

Pain racked him as his head slammed repeatedly into the wall. His limbs felt weak, and he almost let go, but the faces of his friends kept flashing through his head, and it cemented his resolve to hold her off while they made their escape.

Then... he would kill her for sure. So nobody would feel the pain he felt.

The memories haunted him, even while he was awake. Her laughing face was always on the forefront of his mind. How she electrocuted him, how she scarred him. How she whipped him over and over, how she shot him, how she burned him... She'd done so many things to him, and he knew that he would never forget the pain. He would never know peace, not until she was dead and buried.

She slammed him into the wall again, and this time a stray nail buried itself in his shoulder. Keiichi screamed in pain, and his grip loosened. Takano took this moment to grab Keiichi's arms, brace him against her hip, and swing him off of her back.

Keiichi was thrown into the wall at a wrong angle, and his eyes glazed over. His ears rang loudly, and his head felt dizzy. Next thing he knew, Takano was on top of him and began to brutally beat him. Keiichi could see stars as she landed blow after blinding blow into his face.

The couch was in full blaze now, with flames spreading to the curtains and licking the ceiling. The heat was intense, and Keiichi felt like his skin was being burned off just from being close to the fire.

"I thought you were gonna kill me, Maebara-kun!" Takano purred, her eyes dancing with the flames. "I'm still waiting on that promise." She continued punching him, until finally she reached over and grabbed her gun.

Takano brought the butt of her gun on his head once, twice, and a third time. Keiichi felt his eyes start tearing up. He could taste blood in his mouth. The pain was consuming him to where he couldn't even think. Finally, she chambered a round, and trained the gun on him.

 _Shit... I'm sorry, Mion... In the end, I guess I really wasn't good enough...for you..._ Keiichi thought, just as she pulled the trigger and shot him.

* * *

Rena dodged as Kirei delivered a high-handed chop, and slid the blade of her cleaver across the back of his legs. He howled in pain as blood ran down his cargo pants. He stumbled forward a few steps and then turned around, his eyes burning in rage.

But he was running on fumes, he was just about dead on his feet. He couldn't do anymore. Rena had worn him out. She'd cut him so many times, he had to be bleeding out.

"Damn you..." Kirei said.

Rena just smiled. "Time to die."

All of a sudden, a gun shot rang out through the woods, and everyone's eyes turned towards the sound. It sounded like it came from the cabin.

Rena felt an awful tug in her heart. It felt like something that wasn't supposed to happen had just happened.

Mion felt it too, because her eyes became as large as dinner plates. "Keiichi...?" Then, a look of absolute rage and determination overcame her, and she rushed towards Kirei.

"Onee, no!" Shion cried, but Mion was done listening. Years of technique and martial arts training ran through her mind. She ran up to Kirei and executed a perfect high kick to the side of his face, effectively knocking him down. She then grabbed Kirei under each of his arms, picked him up and held him in place.

"Kill him, Rena!" Mion shouted. "Do it, now!"

Rena nodded, ran forward and with a cry, she ran her cleaver across the man's throat.

A horrible, gaping smile opened on his neck. Kirei gasped and gagged as he tried to draw in breath, but was unable to. Instead, he grabbed at his throat as both his mouth and the hole in his neck began to overflow with blood. Then, he fell forward, dead.

"Good riddance." Mion said. "Now, I'm going back to check on Keiichi. That gunshot didn't feel right." Rena nodded in agreement.

"It didn't _feel_ right?" Shion asked. "What does that mean?"

A groggy voice behind them answered. "She means that it feels like maybe Keiichi got shot."

Everyone turned around and saw Mr. Sonozaki rising shakily to his feet.

"I'm sorry, you guys. That man got the drop on me when I was being stupid. I didn't even consider watching my back." Takao turned to Rena. "Am I right in guessing that something went wrong, and Keiichi ended up staying behind?"

Rena nodded. "Takano appeared out of nowhere, and he held her off so we could run away."

"Sounds like something the damn fool would do." Takao grunted. "Not saying that I wouldn't do that myself."

He looked at his eldest daughter. "But, Mion, if Keiichi did get shot, that will mean you're just going to run into Takano down there. It's tantamount to suicide."

"I know, Dad," Mion said. "But I still need to go down there! It's just..."

Her dad walked over to her and embraced her. "I know how you feel. But right now, if you really care about him, you need to ask yourself: What would Keiichi want right now?"

Mion sighed. She knew exactly what the idiot would want. "He'd want me to be safe."

"Exactly." Takao said. "Now, let's get you to safety, and I promise-"

"You're not going anywhere." Takano walked out of the tree line, with her gun trained right on the group.

Immediately, Takao gathered the girls behind him, placing himself instinctively between the group and the shooter.

"Oh, no need to do that, dear." Takano said. "It really just gets in the way." She scratched at her neck, which Mion noted was already spattered with blood. In fact, she was covered in it.

"Where is Keiichi?!" Mion cried, and Satoko and Hanyuu had to try and hold her back. "What did you do to him!"

"Keiichi...?" Takano seemed confused. "Oh, Maebara-kun? Oh, yeah, he's dead."

Mion's heart sunk. _Keiichi's... dead? No... that can't be true..._ Her limbs went limp, and she could feel the tears begin to flow. Her heart ached...

"It was really quite sweet." Takano said, still aiming at Takao. "He almost got me, too. But, in the end, you shouldn't send a child to play an adult's game, right?" She asked Takao.

"Damn you..." Shion said.

"That's not a very ladylike thing to say." Takano said.

"Fuck you, then!" Mion shot back. "Try that out!"

Takano smiled. "This is why I hate teenagers. You are so... Rebellious. Sticking noses where they never belong..."

She aimed the gun at Shion. "Maybe I should kill you first."

Shion turned herself to protect Rika, but Mion stepped in front of her sister. Hanyuu grabbed Satoko and stood behind Shion, sensing Mion's intent.

Takano grinned. "Are we going to play this song and dance again, Mion? I won't miss this time."

Mion just glared at her. "Keiichi risked his life to protect us. I'm not going to let his wish die. So go ahead and shoot me... But just you try and hit someone else! Just you try and hurt one of my friend! I swear you'll wish you were dead!"

"Well, someone else just promised to kill me, Mion." Takano chuckled. "And we all know what just happened to him." She began grabbing at her throat with her other hand, squeezing in with her nails.

"He's dead, Mion!" She laughed. "He's dead and we all know where he is right now!"

"Yeah," A familiar voice said. "I'm right here."

Takano turned, her eyes wide in shock.

"But...I killed you!" She cried in fear. "I shot you in the head! You... you can't be alive!"

"Well, you missed big time." Keiichi said, holding his shoulder. He brought his gun up to her head and shot her.

Point Blank.

Takano's head jerked backward, blood spraying out from her as the bullet entered her head and killed her. Her body collapsed, and Keiichi looked at it in disgust.

"I'm also a man of my word. I told you I'd kill you." Keiichi spat.

Then, he looked over at Mion, smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She looked at him in utter disbelief, but happiness was the only emotion in her mind. Hanyuu and Satoko hugged each other and cheered. Shion actually shed a tear.

Takao chuckled and walked over to Keiichi. "You sure can take one hell of a beating, huh, Keiichi? You're damn near unstoppable." He had gained an entirely new respect towards the young man.

"Well, she was going to hurt her." He said. "I couldn't stay still. Even if I..."

Keiichi coughed, and spat out blood. He staggered, suddenly uneasy on his feet. He fell forward with a confused look on his face, and Takao rushed forward and caught him before his body could hit the ground.

"Keiichi!" Mion cried as she rushed forward and knelt next to him and her dad. Keiichi looked over at her and smiled weakly. She took her boyfriend from her dad and laid his head in her lap, cradling him gently. He didn't look anywhere else. For some reason, it was like all he could see was her.

"Hey there, beautiful." He said hoarsely.

She smiled, feeling like she was about to cry. "Hi there."

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" he asked, his eyes searching her urgently. His hand reached up and touched her cheek gently.

She shook her head. "No, Keiichi... I'm fine. She didn't even touch me."

He chuckled, and put his hand down. "That's good." He then looked her in the eyes. "You just can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you?"

She remembered saying the exact same words just hours ago. "Well played, my little champion. Well played." She said.

He smiled, then closed his eyes. "I'm kinda tired... mind if I take a quick nap here? I won't be long and... this feels nice..."

Mion smiled, and instead of answering, she simply ran her hand through his long, shaggy brown hair. Keiichi sighed, and within moments, he was fast asleep in her lap, snoring lightly.

Rena sighed. " _Hauuuu~_ It's like you two were meant for each other..." For once, she didn't want to try and take anyone home.

Mion placed a hand on his chest, and lovingly drew circles around his chest. "Yeah, it does seem that way, doesn't it? It's like he's already a Sonozaki in all but name..."

"You know... he can be a Sonozaki in name..." Her father teased.

" **DAD!** " Mion shouted. "It's a little early to talk about that, don't you think?"

"Hey, just saying that I wouldn't mind him being my son-in-law." Takao shrugged. "He'd make a fine addition to the Sonozaki family." He shook his head. "That's one hell of a guy you've got yourself there. Unbelievable..."

"No argument there..." Shion said. "But I would argue that we need to hurry up and get Rika to the hospital."

Mion felt something wet, and held her hand up to the moonlight. It glistened with fresh blood. "I think I agree, Sis. Keiichi's not doing too well, either."

Takao leaned in and took a closer look at the wound. He grinned. "He'll be fine, sweetheart. He just got shot in the shoulder. Shouldn't take him too long to get over." He looked at Rika as well. "It's the same with her, but it's a little closer to the inside of her arm. That explains all the blood. But, enough talk." He grunted as he stood.

"I think I hid the van over here." Takao said. He picked up Keiichi's sleeping form in his arms, and guided everyone to where the van was located. He slid the side door open, and guided everyone inside. Finally, Mion went last and Takao handed Keiichi to her, and she laid his head in her lap again.

She smiled and continued where she left off, running her fingers gently through his hair and massaging his head. Keiichi sighed again in his sleep, and he mumbled her name sleepily.

She smiled. "I'm right here, Keiichi. I'll always be here, just like you've always been there for me."She whispered in his ear, inaudible to anyone else that might've tried to listen.

The van started up, and began the long drive back into town. Behind them, smoke and fire from the burning cabin rose into the air, adding a little bit of light to the dark night.

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed my story. I have one last update planned and that is the epilogue, and that should be going up tonight.**

 **You guys have been awesome. I really appreciate all the help you guys have given me, all the support, all the feedback, everything. And I'm sorry if it seemed short to a lot of people. I never intended for it to be a long running thing. I just wanted to write a story and have fun doing it, which I did. And the response from you all was amazing. I'll have to keep writing more stuff like this for you guys. That is, if you haven't gotten sick of me already.**

 **A couple shout outs to people who followed the story and gave me support and suggestions. You guys are the real MVP's here.**

 _ **Cathari Sarad**_

 _ **NeNe Clawz**_

 _ **Issae**_

 _ **kk2320**_

 **You guys deserve a round of applause. You really do.**

 **Hope you guys will look forward to my next fanfic, which is a Rosario + Vampire fic, called _Fury of Kings._ The name is subject to change, of course. But if you are interested in that show, definitely follow me there. BTW, if you wanna check out Rosario + Vampire, I recommend reading the manga and not watch the anime. The manga is SO BADASS and AWESOME and provides the whole story, while the anime cut off half the story and just focused on being really hentai-ish and goofy. Not worth the trade-off, in my opinion. And I think everyone will agree with me.**

 **This has been an awesome first experience for me, and I won't easily forget it.**

 **As always. Thank you, you wonderful people. Until Next Time.**


	13. Epilogue (Book of Joy)

**Epilogue : Book of Joy**

 _ **Three days later...**_

Mion sat in Rika's hospital room with Keiichi close to her. Hanyuu sat on the hospital bed, making sure Rika was eating properly.

The past couple of days had been rough. Both Keiichi and Rika had been brought into ICU due to being both shot in the lung. They had to perform surgery, and both needed blood transfusions, especially Keiichi. His body still hadn't recovered properly from the blood loss, and Keiichi had aggravated his body from fighting with Takano and being shot.

But now he was better, and he was sitting in the chair next to Mion, holding her hand tightly. Mion was still bashful, in a way. She never believed she would be able to hold hands with Keiichi like this, but here they were. He'd taken her hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Maybe Rena was right. Maybe they did belong together. It just felt... _right..._ being next to him.

Mion looked at Keiichi and a feeling of sadness overcame her. He'd gone through so much, just to protect her. He'd risked his life so many times, and he'd paid dearly for it.

She vowed right then to stick by his side always, and make sure he lived a stress-free life. He honestly deserved it.

"Hey," Keiichi said, feeling her uneasy gaze. He squeezed her hand. "You okay?"

She smiled. "Yeah, just thinking."

"Can you lovebirds just get a room already?" Rika said, her true persona showing through. She smiled at her friends. "I swear the love is so thick in this room I could cut it with my spoon." She waved her plastic spoon in the air for emphasis.

Hanyuu whined as soup flew from the spoon. "Rika! You're getting soup everywhere! _Auauau~"_

"Am I now?" Rika said, an evil glint in her eye. She dipped her spoon back in the soup, and flung the food at her friend, who quickly hid behind the bed frame.

"Why are you so evil?" Hanyuu cried. "You seem so sweet most of the time!"

"Looks can be deceiving." Rika said with a wink. "You know this better than most people."

" _Auauau~_ " she whined, as everyone else laughed.

Rika winced in pain.

Keiichi cringed. "Take it easy, Rika. That's a serious injury right there. Trust me. It's no fun, and I'm still recovering from it! Besides," He looked over at Mion. "It's not like this old man over here is going to be letting me do anything on my own anytime soon."

"Damn right." Mion said, looking pointedly. "If you even think about doing anything stupid, you're gonna regret it. I'll make the past couple of days look like a walk in the park!"

Keiichi gulped. "I swear, sometimes you're scarier than Takano."

His girlfriend grinned. "I think I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't."

Mion acted like she was going to hit Keiichi, but decided against it. "I swear, why do I even put up with you?"

"Because you _loooove_ me." Keiichi winked at her teasingly.

Mion blushed hard and looked away, suddenly self conscious. "I- well- I- uh..."

He pulled her close, and kissed her head. "I'm sorry, Mion. I couldn't help it." He said, patting her on the head affectionately.

She blushed, and looked at him sheepishly. "At least warn me next time you do that." She said, trying to sound angry.

"I promise." He held her, and Mion allowed herself to relax. His embrace was warm, as it always was. But there was an added sweetness to the mix, as she felt a touch of romance in his embrace. She relished in the fact that he would reserve this type of thing only for her, and the fact that he actually loved her. Not for her looks, but for who she was. He loved the tomboyish side of her, but he loved the girly side of her that she tried to keep hidden from the world.

Well, looks also had a role to play in his attraction to her. It wasn't completely out of the picture.

They suddenly heard singing.

" _Keiichi-san and Mion sitting in a tree.. K-I-S-S-I-N-G._ _First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Keiichi in the-"_

Mion couldn't hold it in anymore. Her face heated up and she turned on the source of the singing. "Satoko! Can't you just give it a rest?"

Satoko stood in the doorway with her brother. " _Ohohohohoho_. _.._ But I have to tease Keiichi-san as much as I can! It's my job, isn't it? Look, he's blushing already!" She laughed hard.

Mion turned and looked to see that her boyfriend actually was stiff, and as red as a ripe tomato.

"Well, how about we make a deal, Satoko?" Mion said. "You leave the teasing to me, and you just stick with getting him with your traps. Deal?"

Satoko made a show of thinking hard, then smiled. "You got a deal!"

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better..." Keiichi grumbled.

Satoshi scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "Sorry, Keiichi. Satoko has an evil streak that even I can't seem to manage."

"I don't think anybody could manage that thing." Keiichi said as his friend walked forward and shook his hand.

"By the way, where's Shion?" Mion asked. "I'm surprised she's not with you."

"Eh, she said she had to work today." Satoshi said, sitting himself down in one of the chairs nearby. "She's taking as many open shifts as she can. She said keeping busy will help her get over last week."

"Yeah, she's always been like that." Mion said. "If she ever got restless, you usually found her working on something, be it housework, or yard work, or cooking. Even going to the range with Dad when he visited helped her out. Just doing something helps her out a lot."

"Well, I'll have to keep that in mind." Satoshi said.

"Yeah, you better." Mion said. "Because if she resorts to doing school work or book work, you're in deep trouble. She hates that stuff."

Everyone laughed.

"How are you doing, Rika?" Satoshi asked the blue-haired girl. "You seem a little better than yesterday when I visited."

"Yeah, I'm getting better." Rika said. "The doctor said it would take me a while to recover from the shot, and I lost a lot of blood, but I'll be out of this bed soon! _Niipah~_ " She smiled widely.

" _Hauuuuu~_ " Rena had just walked in the door and heard Rika's little outburst. "So cute! When you get better, I'm taking you home with me!"

"Not this time, Rena!" Keiichi cried. "Calm down, and stop your _hauu_ -ing!" He struggled to get Rena to calm down, but it was no use. She turned her sights on Satoko instead and swiftly grabbed her and began running down the hall with her.

 _"I'm going home with her!"_ Rena called out with glee. Satoshi was right behind her, screaming, " _Wait, Rena, slow down! Kidnapping is illegal! Wait up!"_

Hanyuu peeked out from her hiding place. "Is it safe to come out now?"

Everyone laughed again, and Keiichi shrugged. "Hey, at least I tried."

Something seemed different, Rika noticed. It seemed as if their little rag-tag group of friends had suddenly grown closer together. If they had been close before, now they were easily inseparable. Their friendship had been solidified by repeated horror and tragedies and trials. But, despite all the odds stacked against them, they came out on top.

Satoshi and Satoko came into the room, both of them were out of breath.

"I... I got her..." Satoshi said breathlessly

"I think we lost her... " Satoko wheezed. "That was too close..."

They walked slowly in the room and collapsed in the closest chair. After a while, a somewhat calmer Rena joined them. They visited for the longest time, and the air in the hospital room felt jovial.

"So what are you guys going to be doing later on today?" Satoshi asked once he gained his breath again.

"My dad and I were going to go grocery shopping later on today," Rena said. "Then I'm going to go treasure hunting again!" She got a far-away dreamy look in her eyes. "So much treasure..."

"And we lost her." Keiichi said. "Off she goes to La-La land."

Satoshi leaned back. "Satoko was going to show me around the village a bit. She said a little bit has changed since I disappeared, and I'm a little interested in finding out what's new."

"Oh, you should check out the rose garden by the river!" Mion said instantly. "It's so beautiful."

"I'll check that out." Satoshi grinned. "So what will you two be doing?"

Keiichi smiled. "Well, I figured I'd take Mion to town and we'd go on a proper date, like we should've done a long time ago."

"What do you mean, 'should've done?'" Mion asked. "Didn't we technically have a date last week, before all the craziness?"

"Well, yeah," Keiichi admitted. "There was that, but we treated it more like a friendly outing than a date. We were way too shy for no reason. Now that the secret's out, I say we go all out, like a couple should!"

"That's the spirit, man!" Satoshi gave Keiichi a thumbs up, which Keiichi quickly returned.

"Well," Mion said. "We have to at least go by the Angel Mort. No date is complete without something sweet, right?" She quickly winked at Keiichi, who smiled and turned slightly pink at the daring expression. Nobody else had seen it. He guessed Mion had a secret talent for hidden flirting.

"Sounds good!" He said. She smiled, and leaned into him. He wrapped his arms around her once more, and they continued talking to their friends that way.

Everyone else simply smiled, and thought the exact same thing.

 _It was about damn time these two realized how they felt about each other._

* * *

"Come on, Keiichi, you're too slow!" Mion said as she dragged Keiichi into a clothing shop. She was gripping his hand a little too tightly, and Keiichi winced.

"Mion, not so hard...!"

"You're a wimp, Keiichi! Come on, what happened to the strong man who protected me last week?" She teased.

"He's currently begging you not to break his hand into five pieces." Keiichi retorted flatly.

"I swear, Keiichi, you're so hard to understand." Mion sighed.

She guided him through the many isles of clothing articles, occasionally stopping every few feet or so to search through a rack and throw an outfit at him. This went on for a while before Mion finally said, "Okay, I think I'm all set." She looked around, but couldn't see her boyfriend anywhere. "Keiichi, where are you?"

"I'm right here." His voice came from nearby.

"Where?" Mion turned in a circle, gazing wildly around her. "Can you give me a hint?"

"I'm literally right in front of you, Mion." The stack of clothing in front of her suddenly moved to the side, and she could see him grinning.

"Oh, there you are." She said, relieved that she hadn't lost him in the store.

"I think this tells you that you have enough outfits to try on," He said. "If you can't find me under a mountain of clothing, then I think it might be time to stop."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Keiichi." Mion said. "Come on, the rooms are this way."

She led him to the back of the store, where the many changing rooms were. She talked to one of the ladies in charge and she gave Mion a key to Room #3. Keiichi followed Mion, until they reached the room in question.

"Just set the clothes over there," Mion said after opening the door. Keiichi replied, and with a grunt he set the mountain of clothes down as instructed.

"Alright, mister, now out! I need to change." She said, shoving Keiichi out of the room. Before closing the door, she gave Keiichi a wicked look. "And don't be having any strange thoughts, you hear me? I'll know..."

"Hey, I'm leaving that job up to you." Keiichi said, winking.

Mion suddenly flushed red and became flustered. "Sh-shut up." She said as she slammed the door shut.

Keiichi laughed. Mion sure was a piece of work. He settle down on a nearby bench to wait.

But, despite his best efforts, he couldn't stay awake while he waited for Mion to finish trying out her outfits. Slowly, steadily, his head fell forward and he drifted off to sleep.

…

"Keiichi, wake up. Don't tell me I tired you out already?"

Keiichi woke up to see Mion kneeling in front of him, a slightly worried expression on her face.

Keiichi yawned. "Nah, I'm good. Just the past couple of days catching up to me, is all. Did you find something you like?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure about it. I wanted to know what you thought about it." She quickly stood up and spun around, giving him a view of the dress she'd picked out.

Keiichi felt his breath get stolen away. Mion had found a strapless black and white striped dress that fit her in all the right places, along with a cute star-speckled skirt that came just inches above her knees. She'd also somehow managed to find matching star earrings.

Keiichi felt overpowered by her beauty. It just felt all too surreal that this vision of angelic beauty before him was his girlfriend. He couldn't help himself. He stood up, pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

She moaned slightly in surprise, and wrapped her arms around his neck as they deepened their kiss. They stayed in this embrace for a few minutes before breaking for air.

"What was that for?" Mion said, blushing hard, but smiling.

"I'm sorry," He said, still holding her close. "I couldn't stay away. You just seemed so irresistible. I just had to do it."

"Well, I don't exactly mind hearing that." She said flirtatiously, leaning in to peck Keiichi on the lips again. She pulled out of his embrace. "So, you like this?"

"Love it." Keiichi winked at her.

"Good." She said. "I'll buy it then."

She went into the room to change back into her casual outfit, and carried her items to the register to check out.

Keiichi watched her as she walked off, a vision of confidence and beauty.

His life was really about to get interesting, wasn't it?

"Keiichi, stop daydreaming!" He heard his girlfriend say. "We promised Shion we'd be there by five, we're running late!"

"Coming!" Keiichi ran onward, towards the rest of his life.

* * *

 **The End.**


End file.
